A new era of Marshall amps has been announced, with Chinese private equity firm HongShan Capital Group (HSG) acquiring a majority stake in the firm’s parent company, the Marshall Group. The deal is valued at €1.1 billion (approx $1.13 billion) which sees the Marshall family retain a 20% stake.
The deal is still subject to regulatory approvals, but if it goes through, it will stand as HSG’s largest investment in a European-based company. Music gear firm Boss, and online design platform Canva are already part of its growing portfolio, which includes pharmaceutical, sports, and robotics brands.
An official statement from CEO Jeremy de Maillard – who appears set to remain in his post – sees the investment as a huge boost for the company. De Maillard assumed the role in 2023 and has since spoken at length about his plans to modernize the firm’s gear offerings.
“This deal is a testament to our team’s dedication and exceptional talent in making our vision a reality. Together with HSG and the Marshall family, we have the perfect conditions to continue building on Marshall’s iconic status and unlocking our full potential across the world”.
As such, HSG will “work closely with the Marshall family and the management team to strengthen the Marshall brand and fuel its sustainable and profitable growth”.
“Marshall is one of the world’s most iconic brands, firmly rooted in music culture,” says Steve Jia, Partner at HSG. “By building on this legacy, we are convinced that Marshall will strengthen its position as the go-to brand for guitarists and as the most exciting brand for music lovers globally. We are thrilled to partner with the Marshall family and the team at Marshall to write music history.”
Taro Niggemann, Managing Director for Europe at HSG states that its “mission is to support Marshall in unlocking its full potential… We aim to help bring Marshall’s exceptional products to even more customers globally while embracing and celebrating the spirit that has defined the brand for generations.”
The news comes after Marshall Amplification was sold to Swedish speaker company, Zound Industries in March 2023. The move saw Zound (which had previously licensed the Marshall name for headphones and speakers) and the newly incorporated amp-builder rebrand as the Marshall Group.
At that point, Zound CEO de Maillard took on the role of leading the traditional amp firm, alongside the home audio side, with the Marshall family maintaining a 24% ownership stake.
The move represented a good deal for the family, as the amp side only accounted for about five percent of the new group’s overall revenue – with its home audio revenue far surpassing that of its amp sales.
Speaking to Guitar World last year, de Maillard was keen to reassure guitarists that the restructure would ensure the future of the amp-maker and enable it to invest heavily in new products.
“If you look at the spectrum of (amp) companies, there’s not many that will be able to do this,” explained de Maillard.
“The world is changing fast, and things are going quickly. It takes capital and it takes investment to stay relevant. Now, we have some catching up to do. Today, we are not where we want to be with the musicians and the guitarist. And we are working and investing as hard and as fast as we possibly can to show that we belong here. And we’re going to come back.”
The amp-maker has since made its first steps towards keeping that promise, recently announcing a host of new products, including factory-modded takes on its 1959 Plexi and JCM800 amps, a new Studio 900 amp and its Overdrive Series pedal amps at its first NAMM appearance in five years.
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