Roland Corporation Snatches Up 70% Stake In V-MODA

Japanese music company Roland announced today that it has purchased a controlling stake in V-MODA, an international company that makes high-end headphones and accessories. The deal will see V-MODA become one of Roland's brands, as Roland takes a controlling 70% stake in the company while V-MODA founder and CEO Val Kolton retains the remaining 30%. This won't be the first time the two have joined forces, as Roland and V-MODA have partnered to develop products in the past.

Kolton will be staying on as the CEO of V-MODA after the merger, and he'll be joining Roland's dance, DJ, and electronic music division as a consultant on product design. In other words, expect most things concerning the operation of V-MODA to stay the same after the merger, with Roland helping the company scale its operations and presumably integrating some of Kolton's talents as a designer into its own products.

Roland is in a position to help V-MODA scale, too, building a solid reputation for its music equipment business since it was founded back in 1980. Kolton seems to agree, saying in a statement, "This partnership is not strictly a business deal; it's a strategic synergy that will bridge the high-quality sound, materials and design of our products with the legendary genre-changing sound expertise and commitment to excellence from Roland." To celebrate the merger, V-MODA and Roland released a video that features the CEOs of both companies discussing the new partnership, which you can see below.

It'll be interesting to see what Roland can do with the V-MODA brand officially under its umbrella, and if it can grow V-MODA's market share in the very fierce realm of headphones and audio equipment. The financial terms of the deal between the two companies are being kept confidential, though we can most likely expect that Roland paid a pretty penny to add the V-MODA to its portfolio.