Following on from AlphaTheta’s blocked proposal to buyout Serato last year, a new investor has acquired a majority stake in the company. In a $66 million deal, Canadian tech investment firm Tiny now owns 66% of Serato.
Speaking to DJ Mag, the co-founder of Serato, AJ Wilderland, is optimistic about the new partnership. “We’ve always believed that Serato’s strength lies in our ability to innovate and stay true to our community of artists,” he says. “After 25 years of building and guiding this business with my co-founder, Steve [West], we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Tiny.”
“[Tiny’s] long-term vision and strategic approach align with the future we’ve always envisioned for Serato.” he concludes.
Serato’s CEO Young Ly has also commented on the deal, noting: “Serato’s long history of success is driven by a single-minded focus of serving artists. We are incredibly proud of the strength of our business today, and the loyal users that surround us.”
The DJ software company has been on the hunt for a new investor since 2023. Originally, Pioneer DJ’s parent company AlphaTheta proposed a total buyout of Serato for upwards of $100 million. This would have brought it into AlphaTheta’s pre-existing collection of companies – including competitor Rekordbox.
The deal would have resulted in AlphaTheta owning 90% of market shares in the DJ software business. The New Zealand Commerce Commission eventually blocked the proposal, with the NZCC chairman Dr John Small stating that the merger would “substantially [lessen] competition” in the markets for DJ software and DJ hardware.
“While other DJ software providers would remain in the market, we did not consider these rivals… would be sufficient to replace the level of competition that would be lost with the merger,” Dr Small explained.
“We therefore could not exclude a real chance that the merger would result in a substantial lessening of competition for DJ software, resulting in price rises to consumers and/or a lower quality software offering.”
“The evidence before us also indicated that the merger could give ATC [AlphaTheta Corporation] the means to either eliminate or worsen DJ hardware rivals’ ability to integrate their products with Serato,” he concluded.
InMusic also cited fears of a monopoly situation. The US audio equipment manufacturer even bought out ad-space in a New Zealand newspaper, noting how the deal would “hurt the DJ community”.
In light of the news, AlphaTheta’s CEO Yoshinori Kataoka does not hold any ill will towards Serato. Speaking to DJ Mag, the CEO says: “AlphaTheta are aware. There is no change to the relationship between Serato and AlphaTheta post-acquisition”.
