Home media server business Imerge has been resurrrected, following Prism Sound‘s purchase of “certain assets” of Imerge Ltd from Linear LLC of California. The move will see Imerge brands continue with current production as well as the development of new products.
The UK-based business ceased operating in late June as the result of a restructuring by US parent (and Linear owner) Nortek.
Customer support will be maintained for all former customers of Imerge, including OEM partners Elan, Speakercraft, Xantech and Revox. Prism Sound has retained key members of the former Imerge team in research and development, production, customer support and sales, while finance and marketing will be resourced from the Prism Sound team. Ian Dennis, chief technical offficer at Prism Sound, commented “Imerge is a fine example of outstanding technical innovation in the UK and we are proud to take over the baton. We will be concentrating on maintaining the impressive record Imerge has built with innovation in the fast-changing home entertainment market.”
Graham Boswell, director of sales and marketing at Prism Sound, added: “Imerge is one of the world’s premier brands of movie and music-focussed entertainment servers, making it simple for users to acquire, store and replay their content with maximum fidelity and minimum fuss. Our challenge is to tell the story to a global audience and to make the product accessible to new markets. We will be extending the former distribution structure into new and untapped markets in the coming months.”
Imerge server products include the MS1-HD Blu-Ray media server, winner of numerous awards, and the MusicM8 (music mate) audio unit, available though high-street retailers and on-line for connection to home networks. These are complemented by the XIVA on-line music store, and hardware and software accessories including the XIVA-Safe redundant disk storage array and an iPhone app, both for the MS1-HD.
The acquisition takes the Prism Sound group into the home entertainment sector for the first time. Prism has over 20 years’ experience working with clients in audio research and development, manufacturing of audio products, broadcast television and radio, music recording and the public sector.
Grant Rummell, chairman and CEO of Linear, commented: “We are delighted at being able to complete this sale to Prism Sound and to ensure ongoing support for our former customers. Imerge was part of the Linear family for a number of years and we wish them well for the future.”
