Sonos IPO?

So Sonos goes public, Denon immediately buys enough shares to get a controlling interest and all of the lawsuit stuff goes away.

Yes, but the valuation will include the now proved to be enforceable IP asset, so Denon will still have to pay for it. And from a global distribution and service support standpoint, it won't automatically be a bad thing.

Saw that the other day also... should be interesting, for sure. More info about the business side of the company will finally be available to the masses.

So Sonos goes public, Denon immediately buys enough shares to get a controlling interest and all of the lawsuit stuff goes away.Not that such a thing couldn't have happened privately also... it just would have been harder and definitely less visible.

Would it be harder before an IPO when there are just a few owners to deal with and a lot less regulatory oversight? I suspect not, based on my Indian experience, but I don't know about the US.

On the acquisition subject, Denon may be a better owner to keep things moving forward compared to Apple/Amazon/Google who may well do this to eliminate competition for their hardware as well as services.

And I guess the good support will all but disappear?

From the Verge:

Sonos files for an IPO that may value the company at $3 billion
It could happen as soon as June

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/25/17282522/sonos-ipo-initial-public-offering-sec-filing-june-2018

Speaker Maker Sonos Cuts 6% of Workers Ahead of Public Offering

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-18/speaker-maker-sonos-cuts-6-of-workers-ahead-of-public-offering

It's happening
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/smart-home-audio-company-sonos-files-to-go-public-2018-07-06

Sonos Inc., the smart home sound system company, filed Friday to go public. The company has applied to be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "SONO." The company said it plans to raise up to $100 million in the initial public offering, but that amount was estimated as a placeholder amount. The company reported a net loss of $14.2 million in fiscal 2017, which ended Sept. 30, 2017, compared with a loss of $38.2 million in fiscal 2016 and a loss of $68.8 million in 2015. Revenue increased to $992.5 million in fiscal 2017 from $901.3 million in 2016, and from $843.5 million in 2015. The lead underwriters of the IPO are Morgan Stanely, Goldmans Sachs and Allen & Co. The company is looking to go public at a time that the Renaissance IPO ETF IPO, +0.40% has gained 6.3% over the past three months and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.69% has tacked on 5.1%.

The company reported a net loss of $14.2 million in fiscal 2017, which ended Sept. 30, 2017, compared with a loss of $38.2 million in fiscal 2016 and a loss of $68.8 million in 2015.
Which also means we have benefited from great deals on the pricing front!

Wow, they're some losses and for some years too. Appears Sonos have been nowhere near the profitable company many have been completely assuming they were - especially when comparing them to other companies who haven't made a profit for years too.
The loss trend certainly seems to be going the right way but quite a shock nonetheless.