Hey gang....here's your chance to become an owner of FMC....


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-0 ... r-ipo.html

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BigJay's Custom '69 Kickassocaster
'90 Les Paul Standard "Vintage"
'00 MIJ '62 Tele RI
'76 Fender BandMaster Reverb
'71 Acoustic Control 2x12 w/Celestion V30s
'71 Martin D18
Mesa Mark IV
'65 Deluxe Reverb RI

I'll be interested in seeing their financial numbers, margins, volume, geographic sourcing etc. Oh, and how much the top brass are being paid, should be well as it seems they've done a good job since taking over from cbs. (I'm no expert, since new to guitars, but this seems to be the case.)

Let's hope it has a positive and long lasting impact on product.

Watch for the new shareholder/owners to insist that all US production be shifted offshore as a cost-containment measure to enhance the stock's P/E ratio. The Custom Shop may remain but Corona as a whole will be closed. Between California's Air Resources Board, the Franchise Tax Board, and a burgeoning unionized labor movement, they've been bleeding FEIC, FMI, and now FMIC dry for decades. This IPO will likely give Fender all the excuse it needs to consolidate its facilities elsewhere. It's the end of an era......better get those AmStd's and AVRI's while you still can.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

BAD NEWS! Shareholders will expect year after year profits, which ultimately leads to poorer prouduction standards, more overseas production, inferrior materials all for the sake of profit.

I hope I am wrong!

A private equity firm is the largest shareholder and if anyone was going to institute the cost cutting measures that some of you worry about, it would have been them. A big chunk of the cash is going to pay off debt.

Interesting....same as with FB's soon to be IPO.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Sad because they are going public?

+1
Musical instruments should be created by individuals or private companies to ensure the power of the idiotic shareholder doesn't force movement away from the artistic integrity of the endeavor.

Fender (under Leo) was a private company.
Fender (under CBS) was a subsidiary of publicly traded company.
I rest my case.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

I hear what you are saying but the decisions of any enterprise are made by management and/or the board whether that enterprise is public or private. As a public company they may feel more pressure to hit quarterly numbers and worry about the almighty bottom line, although the current owners likely worry about those things as well. Whether that moves them in a different direction remains to be seen.

I didn't notice how much the shares cost or even if it was mentioned,I wouldn't mind owning a few shares just for gits and shiggles.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I have always wondered that too! It has always struck me as odd that they did not move it to a another state. I have never lived in California but I have always imagined that the cost of living is pretty high. Could be wrong though.....

If you want something, better get it fast. This is not going to be good. Why? see previous posts.

Saw this earlier today. Profitable privately held companies go public to capitalize for expansion. Struggling privately held companies go public to pay off debts among other things. According to the reports I read Fender had revenues of $700.6 million and showed a net profit of $19 million. Thats less than 3% but at least its a profit. They showed a net loss in 2010 which compared to their revenue was pretty close to break even. FMIC is a giant in the music business and it looks like they are going to be an even bigger influence than they are now. I don't forsee them having any problem raising the money target of their IPO I just wonder if I could afford to buy a share.

PS: Glad to see you back on the forum BigJay. How's the kickassocaster playin?

We need to organize musicians everywhere to buy up Fender stock as soon as it hits the market.

Fender is more than just another company - it's an American cultural and industrial icon.

Anybody know how to organize this sort of thing?

I'll post over at USMessageboard - I think there are some people that would know how to do it.

Considering that the product(s) Fender makes are primarily luxury/lifestyle products any profit in this economic climate is good..and we all know that guitars are not a true necessity item such as food, clothing, shelter, transportation...and don't lambast me about how "life without guitars is not living!"...you know what I'm trying to say.

I just don't think we would see the guys who were in charge during the eras when the company made the best instruments (Leo, Bill Schultz) making the decision to go public.
They knew that investors would have been so focused on the "bottom line" that:
--Leo wouldn't have been able to create some of his greatest successes (Stratocaster, Blackface amps) because the shareholders would have said, "The Telecaster is still selling well, let's not alienate that part of our market" or "The Blond and Brown Tolex amps are selling better than the Tweeds ever did; why do you want to revamp the amp lineup again?"
--or Bill would have been forced to move all of the manufacturing overseas and it never would have returned en force back to California...from a financial point of view, rebuilding the company in California was a bad idea--higher wages, taxes, etc., but Schultz knew that we (the paying customers) have a real yearning for our Fenders to be made in America (and California specifically)...therefore, he did what was right for the company--he used the overseas suppliers and builders to get them through the slump while they built up and retooled the California facilities.

I don't think investors would have supported those product changes (in Leo's day) or those renovations (in Schultz' day) to be made...you have to have a visionary with massive creative control to make a publicly-traded company work.

Who is that within FMIC today?

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals