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Pioneer DJ is reportedly for sale

The Pioneer Corp is selling its stake in Pioneer DJ according to reports...

Pioneer DJ is reportedly for sale, with its two owners – Pioneer Corp and KKR & Co – considering selling off their stakes in the DJ behemoth. In 2015, Pioneer sold 85% of Pioneer DJ to KKR, retaining 15% but creating a separate company in the process. With sales of around $200m last year, it's expected to land around $500m when it's eventually sold.

The news came via Resident Advisor who spotted the news in a Nikkei Business article.

What could it mean for the DJ market? For now, not a lot. Unless Pioneer DJ is acquired by a competitor, it's likely to be business as usual and as the company controls between 60-70% of global DJ hardware sales, it won't be short of bidders. Most likely, it'll be another investment company who'll replace KKR and things will tick over as normal. That's what Pioneer DJ expect too, in a statement Mark Grotefeld, Pioneer DJ General Manager, made on the news to Digital DJ Tips yesterday: 

“In 2015, Pioneer DJ separated from Pioneer Corporation (car and home audio) becoming a completely separate entity, focusing on the electronic music industry.

Despite recent articles, our mission to continue to innovate and inspire people globally will continue in 2019 and beyond. We are committed to investing in the industry and inspiring creativity in DJs and artists through the support of product development and production.

As a result, our business continues to demonstrate positive growth thanks to the ongoing support of our customers. We look forward to delivering more innovative products and a very exciting future in the electronic music industry.” 

So there you have it — Pioneer itself is potentially getting out of the DJ business (it essentially already did in 2015, bar the 15% stake it retained), but Pioneer DJ will continue as normal. They've been busy too, with a new DDJ-800 controller and SQUID sequencer announced in the last month alone.