German audio equipment company Behringer says it was offered the chance to buy Moog.
According to a statement—which has since been deleted—on Behringer's Facebook page, Mike Adams, the CEO of Moog, tried to sell the company to Behringer in May this year. Moog was subsequently sold to US audio company InMusic, which recently laid off a large amount of Moog staff and closed almost all of its US manufacturing.
"Mike reached out to us first and shared all [Moog's] financials as well the company's challenges [sic]," Behringer's post read. "Mike's decision to sell Moog was influenced by his advanced age and serious mistakes made on the supply chain side. The company had purchased excessive inventory, leading to significant cashflow constraints. While we believe Moog is a great brand, we declined the purchase due to our low-price business model."
Behringer made the statement in response to a video by popular synth vlogger Benn Jordan. The YouTube clip criticised Behringer for copying Moog's synths and manufacturing them in China. According to Jordan, competition from Behringer's copies contributed to Moog's financial troubles and ultimately its sale to InMusic.
Read Behringer's now-deleted post in full. Usually we just ignore such inflammatory videos. However, we have decided to respond this time, as it provides a perfect example of why we have previously emphasized that some influencers prioritize clickbait and disparagement over delivering accurate information.
In reality, in May of this year, Mike Adams, the CEO of Moog, reached out to Uli [Uli Behringer, the company's founder and CEO] to propose selling Moog. Both individuals have had a longstanding friendly relationship. Therefore, Mike reached out to us first and shared all the financials as well the company's challenges.
Mike's decision to sell Moog was influenced by his advanced age and serious mistakes made on the supply chain side. The company had purchased excessive inventory, leading to significant cashflow constraints.
While we believe Moog is a great brand, we declined the purchase due to our low-price business model not aligning with the luxury model Moog is pursuing.
Blaming us for Moog's struggles is as reasonable as blaming Yamaha for the bankruptcy of Sequential, Oberheim, ARP and Moog in the 1980s when the DX7 and other digital synths were introduced to the market.
We wish Moog and its people all the best and believe they have a great future. Both brands serve a very different customer base that can perfectly coincide.
Our focus will always be on creating highly affordable products so everyone can discover the world of music. Our mission is to empower the musicians that don't have deep pockets.
As always, we encourage you to conduct your own research and form your own opinion. Mark.
Watch Ben Jordan's video.