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Almo Pro A/V Acquires IAVI

apav_iavi-0316Almo Pro A/V today announced it is acquiring certain assets and assuming certain liabilities of International Audio Visual Inc. (IAVI), a global distributor. This will make Almo Corporation, celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, the largest privately-held professional audio video distributor in the industry and a $1.2B corporation. It also makes Almo a global company through the procurement of IAVI’s Latin American business. The transaction is expected to close next month.

The acquisition announcement was made public today during Almo Pro A/V’s E4 AV Tour in Washington, DC.

“We are proud to be a third generation, family-owned American company with a vision to expand job opportunities and fuel the economy,” said Warren Chaiken, president and CEO for Almo Corporation. “Taking care of our employees, partners and manufacturers has always been first. The acquisition will give thousands of resellers and integrators access to top quality distribution while making Almo Pro A/V a highly competitive global distributor.”

Sam Taylor, executive vice president and COO for Almo Professional A/V, says, “For nearly 20 years, IAVI has brought a value-add approach to the market with its high level of customer service, talented employees and established success in Latin America. This is in alignment with what Almo Pro A/V has been building, and why IAVI was a perfect fit to become a part of our company. Combined with our managed services, engineering and design support, and leading education and training programs, Almo brings a new depth of opportunity to the pro AV community that is currently not available.”

Wade Gilbert, founder and president of IAVI said, “In looking for ways to expand the business, we saw that becoming a part of a larger entity like Almo Corporation would provide a multitude of benefits for our customers, our partners and our employees,” said Gilbert. “Taking best practices from both companies will allow us to build an even stronger value proposition for our customers.”

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The transition is expected to be seamless to current Almo Pro A/V customers. Previous IAVI partners can expect to experience a host of new benefits through the acquisition, including:

  • Access to Almo’s content creation, installation and bandwidth managed services
  • An eBusiness portal called Almo Access, which includes online tracking, ordering, price sheets, return requests, customized spec sheets, images and more
  • Competitive pricing and shipping rates along with buying power that ensures healthy inventory and advanced logistics thanks to the size, scope and power of the division’s parent company, Almo Corporation
  • Inventory in seven warehouses across the country for nationwide projects
  • Access to new product lines for both the professional and consumer markets
  • Educational programs such as the E4 AV Tour

Here’s a video we took with Almo Pro A/V executives Sam Taylor, Warren Chaiken and Gene Chaiken about the acquisition of IAVI:

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