Half a dozen people have now told us that Sony’s Convergent Media Systems group [1] in the US, (acquired from Thomson just over three years ago [2]) is up for sale BUT that it is actually much more likely to be shut.
The European arm, five to 10 people in total, is definitely going / already gone and we are told (but have not yet found, an alleged press release on the European news buried somewhere on the Sony or Convergent Website).
The closure will mean the loss of 120 jobs. This, no doubt, is all part of Sony’s ongoing financial struggles (see ‘Sony Professional Display Group Layoffs To Hit Europe [3]‘ and ‘Sony Professional Display Group Layoffs [4]‘.
5 Comments To "Sticky: Convergent For Sale But Very Likely To Close. Europe Arm Shut"
#1 Comment By Ed Hitzel On 21 April 2013 @ 01:34 @107
What leads you to believe that Sony’s Convergent Media subsidiary will be shut down instead of sold?
#2 Comment By Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief On 22 April 2013 @ 00:55 @080
Ed. The price that Sony want for Convergent and the speed at which they want to do a deal, we believe, will preclude it being sold. It’s cheaper for Sony to shut them down. Sad for 120 employees but unfortunately true.
#3 Comment By Ed Hitzel On 23 April 2013 @ 21:06 @920
Adrian, What is the “For Sale” price for Convergent? What is Sony’s deadline for selling Convergent?
#4 Comment By Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief On 23 April 2013 @ 21:58 @957
We don’t know the exact price but expect it to be anywhere between USD 30 and 50M. We’d doubt that they would get that. It’s also too small for Sony to care about (in the big scheme of things) which is why we believe it will be closed by June.
#5 Comment By Tom Di Nome On 3 May 2013 @ 21:42 @946
Sony has no plans to shut down Convergent’s business — Tom Di Nome, Sony Electronics, Corporate Communications