Milestone belongs to the Duchossois group

Business unions bring with them a number of benefits for both companies and distributors, customers and users, as a greater number of products and services can be offered. Last May, the Duchossois group announced the acquisition of Milestone AV Technologies, a North American company that produces and markets AV equipment under the Chief and Sanus Systems brands. This acquisition will allow Duchossois to have a staff of leading brands for consumers of audiovisual solutions.

Milestone AV Technologies is a designer, distributor and marketer of audiovisual assembly equipment for flat screens, projectors, speakers, as well as AV furniture, both for users and for commercial markets. The company's products are marketed through Pro-AV distributors, regional home theater distributors, electronic consumer retailers, wholesalers and original equipment manufacturers. The company, which is headquartered in Minnesota, has approximately 400 employees, has a base of 4500 customers, has a presence in the United States, Canada and is expanding international business.

The Duchossois Group is a diversified privately held company headquartered in Elmhurst, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, which is interested in access control solutions, advanced control and automation systems, lighting, venture capital and gambling.

For Robert Fealy, executive vice president of Duchossois, Milestone has all the criteria that the company was looking for in an operational, innovative platform with quality products, which are sold in growing markets, in addition to having a good work and management team. "This is a great brand name and, above all, an exceptional management team," said Robert Fealy. "This is a good complement to our business with  AMX, Chamberlain and Heath-Zenith," he added.

"I speak on behalf of our entire team in saying that we are absolutely delighted to be joining the Duchossois Group," said Gill Scott, Milestone's chief executive. "We share a lot in common with the sister startups, as each is the leader in their respective markets. Although Duchossois was willing to make this operation in the face of economic uncertainty, his decision speaks volumes about his confidence in our ability to grow the business through this class of products and  the high levels of service we offer to our customers around the world. "

Last year Mileston signed up for a public offering of 12 million shares at a price of $14 to $16 per share, but due to unfavorable market conditions the IPO  postponed the process. In the first three quarters of 2007 the company earned $9.84 million, achieving an increase of 40% compared to the same period in 2006. Sales increased 34% to $178.8 million.