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Here is one I did not see coming for all you Native Instruments fans...

Vocalpoint

Vocalpoint

Well-known member
A lot of bemoaning VC at KVR. People have been predicting the downfall of GC for decades - hasn't happened yet. Maybe NI will be OK. I hope so 'cause I have a moderate investment in their hardware/software
 
I’ve just read this elsewhere. A bit of a shock, given their massive presence in the industry. I believe this means that they will be sold off, which hopefully will happen quickly and with minimal consequences to their workforce.
 
More here

ec.europa.eu

Daily News 05 \/ 12 \/ 2025

Annual renewal 2026 for EU-accredited media professionals*\nThe renewal of the annual accreditations is open. All media representatives who are based in Belgium and cover EU affairs can request an annu
ec.europa.eu ec.europa.eu

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Also realized this was posted back on Dec 5. I think this deal may have fallen through....

VP
 
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The Bain/Bridgepoint takeover was announced on 20 November 2025. It would appear that it’s fallen through and Francisco have decided to have NI file for insolvency as a result.

Edit: in fact, it’s likely that the insolvency is part of the debt-clearing process that the takeover is conditional upon.
 
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TimC340 said:
The Bain/Bridgepoint takeover was announced on 20 November 2025. It would appear that it’s fallen through and Francisco have decided to have NI file for insolvency as a result.
Click to expand...

Wow - I find it fascinating that all of that was out there - somewhere - since late November and not a peep about it until today? Wild.

VP
 
Vocalpoint said:
Wow - I find it fascinating that all of that was out there - somewhere - since late November and not a peep about it until today? Wild.

VP
Click to expand...
Exactly. The EU clearance for the deal that you quoted was on 5 December 2025. Ok, Christmas will have slowed everything down, but you’d have thought that some news would have got out. But it looks like this is a technical move to oil the wheels of the takeover.

Not all VC is bad - the sector wouldn’t exist if it always failed. Bain have a pretty good rep for turning companies around (qv Virgin Australia), so let’s hope they can do it with NI.
 
There is some very interesting information in the Native Instruments (UK) Directors' Report for the year to 31st December 2023, where they allude to the foreseen possibility of the parent company (MidCo GmbH) being in breach of its loan covenant in Q4 2025 - this was seen coming 2 years ago! I'm hearing on the financial side that Bain and Bridgepoint were basically being asked to guarantee the company's loans in return for a shareholding, either supplementing or supplanting Francisco - so it wasn't really a buyout; it was a rescue, and one for which the necessity had been foreseen for some time. I assume that in fact the loan covenants were about to be breached (as forecast) that tipped the company into insolvency.

It seems incredible to me that more hadn't been achieved in the two years since this risk was publicly admitted (and had presumably been known about internally for a good bit longer); this should have been sorted out over a year ago. It would appear that Francisco has been less than careful about its property.

Link (retrieved from Companies House)

For those uncomfortable with links, this is the relevant passage from the report:

Going concern

The company meets its day-to-day working capital requirements through support from Music Creation Group Midco GmbH (MCG GmbH), the parent undertaking, which is part of the wider Music Creation Group Тopсo(UK) Limited (MCG UK) group of companies. The Directors have therefore obtained a letter of parental support from MCG GmbH confirming support will be provided, should it be required, through the going concern assessment period to January 2026.

MCG UK is a global business funded through a combination of equity investments and external borrowing. As disclosed in its most recently filed financial statements, the Group's forecasts suggest there may be a loan covenant breach in Q4 of 2025. The Group's Directors have a reasonable expectation that an agreement will be made with the external lenders to amend certain loan agreement terms to avoid such a breach, however ,this is not certain. Should this not be possible, the Group's majority shareholder, Francisco Partners, have indicated their willingness to continue to provide capital funding to the Group should this be required but this is not a guarantee.
 
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