Pioneer to leave the DJ business

"Despite dominating the industry, the Japanese giant faces serious financial woes. Japanese financial websites are reporting Pioneer is getting out of the DJ business.

After selling over 85% of its DJ subsidiary to investment firm KKR & Co. in 2015, both parties are now in talks to offload the entire stock to new buyers, reports Nikkei Business. The report goes on to say bidding has already begun with an expected price to land between 60 billion to 70 billion yen, which is upwards of $500 million in US currency.

Pioneer DJ, the subsidiary created during the original sale to KKR & Co., had sales of over $200 million in 2018 despite the parent company making net losses in 2016 and 2017. According to Nikkei Asian Review, Pioneer DJ controls between 60 and 70% of the global share in DJ mixers, turntables and other products.

Despite the dominance of its DJ arm, Pioneer is currently restructuring and was recently bailed out by Baring Private Equity Asia, a Hong Kong buyout firm, to the tune of $930 million. Japan Times reports that the deal involved laying off 3,000 employees, which amounts to some 15% of Pioneer's total workforce."