The buzz at CEDIA EXPO 2009 in Atlanta, GA is that SpeakerCraft is going out of business. While the speaker brand's holding company has indeed filed for Chapter 11, the decision does not affect SpeakerCraft, reassures Jeremy Burkhardt, CEO of the Company.

"You guys are the first to approach me about this," he told Marketnews in a private meeting at the show. "SpeakerCraft runs and manages its own business and has no financial issues."

Burkhardt started the SpeakerCraft brand as we know it back in 1993, and bought out his partners in 2000. In 2005, he opted to sell SpeakerCraft to Nortek. Inc., a manufacturer of home technology and security products owned by holdings company NTK Holdings, based in Providence, RI.

On September 3, Nortek announced that it would be entering into a restructuring and lockup agreement in an effort to eliminate US$1.3 billion in debt.

"This transaction will immediately rebuild Nortek's financial strength, providing us the flexibility for growth and a solid foundation for long-term stability," said Richard L. Bready, Chairman and CEO of Nortek at the time.

"Nortek is the holding company of 20-plus businesses in this industry," notes Burkhardt.

"They have third-party outside debt. But for us, it's business as usual."
When musing whether this could be good news for SpeakerCraft, in that perhaps Burkhardt could buy the brand back from Nortek at a much cheaper price, he chuckles. "They're not in that type of situation at all," he says.

Nortek also owns brands like Linear, Niles, Elan, and Gefen.

Jeremy Burkhardt, CEO of SpeakerCraft, tells Marketnews at CEDIA EXPO that while its holding company Nortek has filed for Chapter 11, it's "business as usual" for the speaker company.

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