Muzak and DMX Receive DOJ Clearance to Merge

FORT MILL, S.C. & AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Muzak LLC and DMX, Inc., two leading providers of business media services, today announced that they have been informed by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that the DOJ's investigation into the proposed merger of the companies, to allow for a sale to a third party, would be closed — and that the companies are cleared to proceed with the proposed transaction without an antitrust challenge. The companies expect to receive formal notification of the investigation’s closing in the near future.

Muzak’s chief executive officer, Steve Villa, said, “We are pleased with the action taken by the Department of Justice, as we believe a merger of our two companies will create significant opportunities for innovations in products and services that will result in tremendous benefit for our clients.”

John Cullen, chief executive officer of DMX, was quick to applaud the DOJ’s decision. “On behalf of the DMX management team, we are committed to blending two great companies and look forward to seeing how things unfold with offers from interested parties,” Cullen said. “More importantly, we are extremely excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for our clients and assisting them in creating memorable experiences for their customers.”

Muzak and DMX have taken steps that will allow them to move quickly through the sale and integration process, including completion of an analysis of the combined entity. The companies have also engaged an investment banking firm to assist with offering the combined entity to a third-party buyer. The companies will continue to operate independently until a purchase is finalized, and expect no disruption in service to clients.

Additional announcements will be made as the sale and integration process continues.

About Muzak

As a leading provider of business music, Muzak creates experiences that reach more than 100 million people daily. Some of the biggest brands in business, from Ann Taylor to AT&T to McDonald’s, work with Muzak to enhance their brand image in hundreds of thousands of client locations. Muzak creates a wide variety of core and custom music experience for clients around the world. Muzak creates custom on-hold and in-store voice messages, and designs and installs professional sound systems, commercial television, drive-thru systems, digital signage, soundmasking systems and more through its national network of sales and service locations. For more information, visit www.muzak.com.

About DMX

Recognized as an international leader of sensory services, DMX creates brand experiences for commercial environments. The company’s services include music design, full motion video, audio messaging and environmental scents developed to provide brand texture for its customers and create integrated, multi-sensory environments that drive repeat business. DMX also provides music for cable television networks worldwide. For over 35 years, DMX’s customers have included prominent industry leaders and represent some of the most identifiable international brands such as Nike, Starwood Hotels, 24 Hour Fitness, American Eagle, and many others. For more information please visit DMX on the Web at www.dmx.com.

Certain statements contained in this release include what are commonly referred to as forward-looking statements. Some of these statements can be identified by terms and phrases such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “intend”, “expect”, “could”, “may”, “will” and similar expressions, may include references to assumptions that we believe are reasonable, and relate to our future prospects, developments and business strategies.

Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to those related to our substantial leverage and debt service requirements, restrictions imposed by the terms of our indebtedness, our history of net losses, our lack of readily available funds to borrow, our dependence on satellite delivery of our products, our dependence on third parties to license music rights, possible disruption posed by new business strategies and initiatives, the impact of natural disasters on our client locations and our support facilities, future capital requirements, the impact of competition and technological change, the availability of cost-effective programming, the impact of legislation and regulation, our dependence on the contributions of key personnel, the ability to control or impact client cancellations, potential conflicts posed by the significant ownership stake of our controlling equity holder, risks associated with the effect of general economic conditions and other factors discussed in our filings, reports, and public disclosures.

You must remember that our expectations may not turn out to be correct, even though we believe they are reasonable. In light of the foregoing risks and uncertainties as well as those that have yet to be identified, we cannot and do not guarantee that any future transactions or events will happen as described or that they will happen at all. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they were made, and we expressly disclaim any duty whatsoever to update such forward-looking statements.