Sundown Audio is in the process of being acquired for an undisclosed sum by a sister company to XS Power. The purchaser, called Systematic Audio, is owned by Scottie Johnson, who also owns XS Power.
Johnson and Sundown Audio President and Owner Jacob Fuller are long time friends. Fuller will continue to run product development and Johnson will run Sundown’s day-to-day business.
Systematic Audio will honor all warranties and continue to provide customer service using the current Sundown Audio team.
No layoffs are expected, in fact, the company plans to hire more employees, said Sundown Office Manager Bryan Chamberlain.
He said Fuller, “wanted to get away form the money side of things and just do his passion which is engineering really cool car audio products. And in having Scottie Johnson’s backing, we’ll be able to produce cool new devices and produce them faster.”
Chamberlain said, “When you create a prototype, it may take sometimes three years…when you can actually focus on that product it can come out quicker, which will put us much more ahead of the curve.”
Sundown’s Fuller said on a Facebook post, “There will be no significant interruption in anything; ordering, warranty, sales, etc.”
Fuller said, “I cannot think of a better person to deal with than Scottie Johnson. We share the same personal and business values. We share the same appreciation for our employees and customers. We also share the same passion for absolutely cutting-edge product development …”
Fuller added, “As for me – stepping back from the day-to-day concerns of running a company will allow me to really explore my full potential in product development, product testing, and vision for the future of mobile audio.”
Chamberlain said the acquisition has been in the works for a while and may be completed this month or early January.
Photo: Jacob Fuller (left) and Scottie Johnson
Sundown audio has great people and products, but their management wasn’t ready for the next level. That takes a huge mental load on one person… Running a company is stressful when friends turn to business associates, and then turn to hard-marking decisions. Speaker companies need facilitation and drive with some organization; I believe confidently sundown will go down as one of the greats even if some founding members are gone within the next months. Scottie doesn’t play; this is a tight-run ship, which should help them a ton.
Both Jacob and Scottie are great guys; movers in this business, hard workers and visionaries. congratulations to both, I’m confident that the brand will continue to shine! no pun intended.