Stage Directions: I, like many others, was surprised when it was announced that Rosco had acquired GAM Products. Because of the speed of the deal (Rosco and GAM started speaking in early 2013, and the deal was announced as finished in March), apparently a lot of Rosco employees were surprised as well. Stan Miller, chairman of the board for Rosco, wrote a memo for internal distribution to all of Rosco employees to explain a little more of the rationale behind the deal, and what their plans are for GAM Products’ goods. Rosco approached us to release this memo to industry at large to clarify their intent in the purchase and to emphasize for everyone that GAM Products line of goods isn’t going anywhere. As Miller emphasizes below, the deal happened because GAM and Rosco has complementary goals: “GAM wanted its product legacy preserved and its remarkable products to continue to be available. Rosco wanted those GAM products to continue to be available as well – but in the Rosco style.” The memo (which we include in full below) affirms Rosco’s commitment to keep producing GAM Products goods, increasing their distribution with Rosco’s distributor network, and raising the overall awareness of them throughout the industry.
6 comments:
The news of Rosco's acquisition of GAM Products spread like wildfire at USITT last month. Everyone I talked to about it was surprised to hear about the deal, including myself. Knowing that the founder of GAM Products was looking to get out of the business makes much more sense. GAM Products is a successful company, and I'm glad to know that its' products will continue to be sold over a bigger network than ever before.
Reading these memos, I think Rosco made a good deal with GAM company. I know that his acquisition has been a wide issue among theatre people and many of them wondered if Rosco will keep the products or not. However, looking at these, I think Rosco had a wise choice. When one company buys another company, mostly it tends to change the products or fuse into its products. However, by keeping GAM's products that people have purchased for many years now, many customers were able to relieve their worries. I think Rosco respected GAM's products and its value. Although I do not know these companies in detail, I am glad to know that GAM's products will remain same and will be able to sell world widely through Rosco company.
It's nice to see an acquisition of a company that doesn't leave a bad taste in your mouth. It's nice to see that the early rumors of this being a mutually beneficial deal were correct. I'm very glad that the GAM product line is still going to be offered, and to an even larger market than before. This article makes it seem like the GAM product line will be left as a sort of legacy, with nothing new being added to it. It is probably likely that any new products inspired by GAM will be released under the Rosco name.
Even though competition fuels innovation and it's sad to see GAM go I'm glad that their product line will remain intact. Additionally, as disappointing as it is too see the founder Joe Tawil leave the business, it's nice to know that a CMU alum built such an incredibly successful company from the ground up. But at least his legacy will live on.
I think that Rosco purchasing GAM is probably exactly what GAM needed. They make great colors and products, but few people are as familiar with GAM as they are Rosco. As long as Rosco keeps the products GAM has and doesn't change them, I think this deal was a good thing. I don't know if I think it's a good thing GAM didn't even consider selling to anyone else, but Rosco is a huge distributor, so let's hope we see more GAMcolor soon!
I am glad it was a peaceful acquisition and not some corporate take over, but this memo does not give all that much information. GAM's products will remain available is in there and thats good to know for a lot of people I imagine, but I wonder what "in the Rosco style" means. Also it is objectively a good thing that GAM will be getting much better distribution, unless it means the massive raise of prices for GAM products. It will be interesting to see how much affect this has on the lighting industry.
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