Gibson acquired Mesa/Boogie near the beginning of 2021, creating a closer relationship between the two iconic brands than the one it already shared.
"It's a perfect fit," says Gibson Brand President Cesar Gueikian.
Mesa/Boogie, a more-then 50-year-old company, is a boutique, custom amplifier maker that mirrors Gibson's custom guitar shop in Nashville.
"That's how they build amplifiers, in a crafted, high-quality way," he says, which has led to their amplifiers being used by some of the most widely known and respected guitarists.
"All the greats use Mesa/Boogie because of the quality of the amplifier," he says. "It's not only the quality of sound, but it's also quality of build. And that is a perfect fit for Gibson."
Gueikian says he connected with one of the partners at Mesa/Boogie, initially just because of a shared love for guitars and amplifiers. That led to a relationship through which Gibson used Mesa/Boogie's amplifiers for its showrooms, livestreams, pre-recorded shows and all of its demos on its website. That then led to getting to know each other even more, as well as spending more time with that team.
"And that conversation then evolved into, 'Well what would it look like if ...' and then we closed it, we made it happen," Gueikian says. "We said it makes sense, let's combine. Let's put the two brands together."
Gueikian says another acquisition doesn't seem to be on Gibson's horizon. Rather, much of the focus is on integrating the new brand.
"I look at Mesa/Boogie and their team almost as a client of ours. Like, we need to show them how great this combination is going to be and get it done in a really smooth way," he says. "There's a lot of work that comes with an acquisition like that — integrating all the functional teams and then there's a dealer network, there's a logistics network, there's supply chain integration. And so we're taking this next couple of months to make sure that we do that and we do it in a very efficient way."
Gueikian spoke on the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast about the Mesa/Boogie acquisition, as well as the direction of the Gibson brand and the many ways it's working to connect with its community. Hit play to catch the full conversation.
