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Word on the street over here is that Besson is in administration today.

Bad news for a lot of British Brass players!

I take it this means the parent company THE MUSIC GROUP including Schreiber & Keilwerth woodwinds as well as Besson?

I think so. All speculation so far, but the signs aren't good!

http://www.themouthpiece.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18062

Another acquisition for Gerhard Meinl, perhaps?

bloke wrote:The "real" Edgeware St. plant has been shuttered for years, has it not?

Yes, but not all that long.
Someone will know better but I went a picked out an Eb in (I think) 2001. It must've moved to Germany/Watford after that...

Whilst there I had a look around the display of old photos and prototypes including a sub-contra Eb. Wonder what happened to all those old instrumets?

Rutland Trust, the money behind the B&H manufacturing buyout has been restructuring lately. In August they sold Buffet Crampon to a French investment firm and there was word about selling the brass end of the business then.

Guess it was hemmorhaging too much even then...

Paul M wrote:What do you mean by, "in administration."

Administration of a business

There is provision in United Kingdom law for an insolvent company to be placed into administration. Various authorities may appoint an administrator, principally including:

the courts (on application from a creditor, directors or partners)
the holder of a qualifying floating charge over the assets of the business
the company itself
the directors of the company concerned
a creditor

The task of the administrator is to manage the business so that the creditors can minimise the scale of their losses. The company is described as being in Administration. Ideally, the Administrator will sell the business as a going concern, securing the best price. It is quite probable that he or she will sell any realisable assets separately: the whole may be worth less than the sum of the parts (see Asset stripping). (from Wikipedia)

Sounds like the US equivalent of Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Lew wrote:Sounds like the US equivalent of Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Or like the more colloquial term, receivership. It means it's under the care of a court-appointed adminstrator in charge of protecting (and perhaps liquidating) the assets on behalf of creditors and (to a much lesser extent) stockholders.

Protecting the assets usually means a big padlock on the front door.

Rick "who thinks 'Chapter 7' is spelled p-a-d-l-o-c-k" Denney

Paul M wrote:What do you mean by, "in administration."

There is another disposition in USA Bankruptcy law that, by analogy, the company could be in: (Chapter 11) Debtor-in-Possession, where the owners are keeping the business running, but answering to a Bankruptcy Trustee, until a reorganization plan is approved, or, if everything does tank, conversion to liquidation (Chapter 7).

I'll do some research and see if I can come up with a real financial news link that will clarify matters.

Rick Denney wrote:Protecting the assets usually means a big padlock on the front door.

Rick "who thinks 'Chapter 7' is spelled p-a-d-l-o-c-k" Denney

Well, there's a little "gap" between the time when a court-appointed receiver takes charge and when the court gets the list of what's in inventory from the aforementioned receiver. I've seen truckloads of stuff mysteriously "disappear" during that gap.

After the court has the inventory list, it's harder. That's when they use the padlock.

is steinway still buying things?

I found this article on the Financial Times website this morning;

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/93e43ec6-678f- ... e2340.html

A friend of mine who works for Besson has been told that his job is no more. Not the sort of news you'd want before Christmas.

Mike Johnson wrote:...the Boosey & Hawkes "Buy the company and close it!" policy

Not unlike Microsoft, eh?

Mike Johnson wrote:I think it's a good thing for Brass Bands! I know that sounds hard, but I think that there will now be a better choice of instruments on the market. UK band instruments have been a closed market because of the Boosey & Hawkes "Buy the company and close it!" policy of the last hundred years. Now we can get some variety, AT LAST!!
Mike

And all along, we in the fledgling US Brass Bands thought that in order to properly emulate the great, traditional British Brass Bands, we had to have Besson 3 + 1 compensating horns across the board!

But does this mean for all the "Bessons" pocket trumpets on eBay?...

If I ran the evil company-swallowing money power that owns Besson, I would just send a few production supervisors and the entire contents of the factory to a new building in India. I tried a "Made in India" Besson trumpet at the NAMM show last year that played very well, so they already have some high quality manufacturing taking place over there.

I wonder how Sotto Voce would sound on Indian horns.


-Eric

BESSON MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS RESTRUCTURING PRIOR TO SALE
08 December 2005


TRADING CONTINUES AS NORMAL

Besson Musical Instruments Limited, the manufacturer of brass instruments, announces that it is currently undergoing restructuring prior to a sale of the business. A sale is expected to be achieved within the next few weeks.



The company was acquired in 2003 by The Music Group, a company formed for the purpose of purchase of the instrument manufacturing companies of the Boosey & Hawkes Group.



John Rogers, Managing Director of Besson Musical Instruments, commented:



“Trading continues whilst the restructuring programme is underway. The steps we are taking are necessary to ensure that the business’s cost base, as it enters new ownership, is commensurate with the scale of its operations.â€

I guess Pat Sheridan will have to stock up. He goes through an Eb every year or so. It is a shame they make some really fine low brass instruments.

WorldofBrass.com wrote:I found this article on the Financial Times website this morning;

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/93e43ec6-678f- ... e2340.html

A friend of mine who works for Besson has been told that his job is no more. Not the sort of news you'd want before Christmas.

And then Besson comes along and posts this press release on 4barsrest.com, FWIW:

http://www.4barsrest.com/news/detail.asp?id=2190

As long as it is not assimilated by the Cyborg.

Besson Suit wrote:The steps we are taking are necessary to ensure that the business’s cost base, as it enters new ownership, is commensurate with the scale of its operations.

Boy, now there's a chunk of corporate doublespeak!