Buffet Crampon acquires Schreiber and Keilworth!

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ufoneum
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Buffet Crampon acquires Schreiber and Keilworth!

Post by ufoneum »

Just received this in my inbox this morning. York instruments to be discontinued, apparently. Feel free to distribute.

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Mantes La Ville, August 1, 2010 – Buffet Crampon, top musical instruments manufacturer and world leader in clarinets is acquiring Schreiber & Keilwerth, the internationally renowned German musical instruments manufacturer.

The Buffet Crampon Group, headed by Antoine Beaussant, is acquiring all the assets of the German manufacturer Schreiber & Keilwerth, which had filed for insolvency in March 2010.

The new Buffet Crampon Deutschland GmbH will continue the W. Schreiber & Julius Keilwerth brands which are part of the European musical heritage.

The area of Markneukirchen has a long tradition in musical instruments manufacturing. The modern factory at Markneukirchen has a capacity of 50.000 instruments per year. Its integration into the Buffet Crampon Group will save more than 140 jobs.

« We are proud and happy to welcome the Schreiber & Keilwerth team in the Buffet Crampon Group. Our companies have been working together for more than 40 years» declares Antoine Beaussant.  «Our profession in musical instruments is a combination of know-how and art. The skills of our employees, combined with a high-precision technology, are our most valuable assets».

« The W. Schreiber & Julius Keilwerth brands will perfectly complement the Buffet Crampon brands in some markets where we are currently not present. We expect additional 8 million Euros turnover», adds Antoine Beaussant.

Buffet Crampon is the market leader in Boehm system clarinets, and also manufactures oboes, bassoons, English horns and saxophones. The Schreiber German system clarinets and bassoons, as well as the Julius Keilwerth saxophones will be an important addition.

The York instruments have never found their place in the Brass Band world and will be discontinued. Buffet Crampon will pursue its strong development in this market through its Besson and Antoine Courtois brands, which are experiencing a period of growth, particularly in the USA and Europe.

 

Argos Soditic, 92% shareholder of the Buffet Crampon Group, has brought its financial support to the transaction. «Schreiber & Keilwerth has been an important supplier for Buffet Crampon for years. The combination of these two companies brings many synergies. It is an important strategic move for Buffet Crampon which is strengthening its position as a market leader » declares Louis Godron, General Manager ofArgos Soditic .
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Re: Buffet Crampon acquires Schreiber and Keilworth!

Post by Dan Schultz »

Although I've never had a call to purchase Schreiber or Keilworth parts... I'm certainly not looking forward to that experience now that it may be in the hands of Buffet-Crampon.

Just thinking about the 'good old days' of only ten or so years ago when I could simply pick up the phone and talk directly to an engineer at a manufacturing plant about repair problems and getting obscure parts.

NOTE: This is not intended to be a 'stab' at Buffet-Crampon. ... Just an observation that things get really 'cluttered-up' when old brands become attached to modern 'mega' companies.
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Re: Buffet Crampon acquires Schreiber and Keilworth!

Post by Tubacube »

Sad to see York go. They were just hitting their stride in quality and playability.
I thought that the tubas and euphoniums played rather well and gave Besson a run for the money and thus improved the line up of both companies . Who knows, maybe all those lucky folks who purchased Yorks will now have collectables.
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Re: Buffet Crampon acquires Schreiber and Keilworth!

Post by cambrook »

Who knows.....

but somehow I doubt it
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Re: Buffet Crampon acquires Schreiber and Keilworth!

Post by Dan Schultz »

Tubacube wrote:Sad to see York go. They were just hitting their stride in quality and playability.
I thought that the tubas and euphoniums played rather well and gave Besson a run for the money and thus improved the line up of both companies . Who knows, maybe all those lucky folks who purchased Yorks will now have collectables.
The story goes that York had some of the old Besson (London) tooling. Someone needs to keep an eye on where that stuff ends up because it could become a good parts resource for the older London Bessons. Many of the 'Besson' parts being made now will not interchange with the London Bessons.
Dan Schultz
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Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
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