Acquisition Makes Almo the Largest Professional Audio Video Distributor in the US; Enables Almo to Expand into Latin America; Effective Next Month

In a move designed to dramatically expand distribution accessibility to Pro AV resellers and integrators, Almo Professional A/V today announced it is acquiring certain assets and assuming certain liabilities of International Audio Visual Inc. (IAVI), a leading value-added global distributor. As a result, Almo Corporation — a seventy-year-old distributor — will become 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 award-winning E4 AV Tour in Washington, DC.

Watch a video of the announcement here.

“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.”

According to Sam Taylor, executive vice president and COO for Almo Professional A/V, “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, I 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.” Continued Gilbert, “Taking best practices from both companies will allow us to build an even stronger value proposition for our customers.”

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, which provide a new dimension of growth and ongoing revenue potential.
• A full-featured eBusiness portal named Almo ACCESS(TM), which includes online tracking, ordering, price sheets, return requests, customized spec sheets, images and a host of other valuable information.
• Highly 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.
• Award-winning education programs, such as the E4 AV Tour to help resellers stay ahead of the trends and be more competitive.

Additional details about the acquisition will become available over the next month.

About Almo Professional A/V Almo Professional A/V provides the industry’s most advanced product distribution, training and education, and technical support options available for the Pro AV community. With a highly skilled sales team, reseller education programs, seven distribution centers across the U.S. and product lines for the Pro A/V channel, Almo Professional A/V provides customers with the full distribution experience on a local and a personal level. Almo Professional A/V is a division of Almo Corp., the nation’s leading independent distributor of consumer electronics and major appliances. For more information about Almo Professional A/V, please call 888-420-2566 or go to www.almoproav.com. Almo Professional A/V can also be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/almoproav and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/almoproav. *All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.