Moog Music announced today that they are now a part of inMusic, the conglomerate known for its ownership of brands like Alesis, Akai, and Numark.
Moog President Joe Richardson made the only statement released today on behalf of both companies and talks about discussions with inMusic CEO Jack O’Donnell. The main takeaways: engineer Steve Dunnington will remain as lead of product development, and Moog promises to continue its operations in Asheville.
The acquisition means Moog is no longer employee-owned; those owners are now bought out. According a statement forwarded to us from the company:
Moog Music will remain in Asheville, NC, and our team will continue to design and build our instruments here inside the Moog factory. As part of the transition, Moog Music is no longer employee owned. All past and present employees who have participated in the Moog Music Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) since it was implemented in 2015 will receive a payout.
I’m also unaware of what became of efforts by Moog employees to unionize. A Twitter account for union organizers has been dormant since September. But it seems that unionization never came to be.
Irrespective of the situation at Moog, across the industry, we’re seeing many manufacturers experience drops in sales after a peak during the pandemic and cutbacks, as in other industries, plus increased pressure from low-cost makers. I’d be cautious about too much speculation though about what this acquisition will mean or the situation at Moog, as we simply don’t have a lot of information about this or other non-public companies. Generally also the broad statements about combined resources are identical in these statements, so I think it’s best to wait and see.
But it is certainly a new chapter for the iconic Moog name. Here’s hoping for the best for the folks working there – and throughout the synth business.