On expected lines, Beats Electronics has bought back the remaining 25 percent stake HTC had in the company for $265 million, Dow Jones reports. Beats Electronics was said to be seeking new investors who could help it branch out into new product categories including speakers, car audio and also a soon to be launched music streaming service, which wasn’t possible given HTC’s current financial condition.
HTC had acquired a 50.1 percent stake in Beats Electronics in 2011 hoping it would help differentiate its smartphones from the competition. However, the Beats Audio branding did not bring the desired results and wasn’t marketed well enough to provide any leverage to HTC’s smartphones in the market. HTC sold off half of its stake back to Beats Electronics in 2012 for $150 million.
Beats Electronics is said to have secured funding of $500 million to buy out HTC’s stake from the Carlyle Group at a valuation of $1 billion, NYT reports.
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