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<DIV><SPAN class=295205515-10092004><FONT face=Arial>Is this =
supposed to mean
that 92% of all pianos currently sold in America are coming from =
Korea??? I
don't think so ...</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Alan R. =
Barnard</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Salem, MO</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr =
align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Kent =
Swafford
[mailto:kswafford@earthlink.net] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, September =
09, 2004
5:09 PM<BR><B>To:</B> Pianotech<BR><B>Subject:</B> Now
what?<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><B>Watchdog quashes piano =
buyout<?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/colo=
r><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><?bigger><BR><BR><?/bigger=
><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/fontfamily></B><?fo=
ntfamily><?param Arial><?x-tad-bigger>The
Fair Trade Commission stopped a major domestic piano maker from buying =
out its
rival yesterday.<BR>Samick Musical Instrument Co., a domestic piano
manufacturing company, has been in the process of taking over its =
rival and
market leader, Young Chang Piano Co., for the past six months. It was =
told to
sell off the 48.6 percent share it bought from Young Chang within a
year.<BR>The watchdog said if Samick takes over Young Chang, =
competition would
disappear, and the market would be monopolized.<BR>The commission said =
that if
Samick, which has 33 percent of the domestic market, takes over Young =
Chang,
which has a 59 percent market share, its share would be 92 percent. =
The high
percentage would eventually hurt consumers with high prices, said an =
official
from the commission. Young Chang could survive without Samick, since =
its high
potential market value could attract many other domestic companies, he =
added.
<BR>Samick, however, plans to file a suit against the commission and =
take
other legal measures regarding the decision. The company views the
commission's order as typical bureaucratic red tape, which ignores the =
commercial reality of the domestic piano industry. Taking over =
companies on
the verge of bankruptcy is a way to restructure industries, but the =
watchdog
made an unreasonable decision based purely on market share figures, =
said an
industry source.<BR>Kim Jong-seop, president of Samick, said that the
commission did not seem to know the reality of current domestic =
business
conditions.<BR>"If another company takes over Young Chang, the =
possible growth
would not be as dramatic," he said.<BR>A legal expert said that the =
domestic
piano market is fully open and sales are decreasing, making it =
impossible for
prices to go up. "The Fair Trade Commission seems to have overly =
exaggerated
the negative effect of monopolies and oligopolies."<BR>The idea of an
acquisition was actually suggested by Young Chang in March. Young =
Chang
graduated from a debt workout program in June 2002, but its debt =
increased by
600 percent last year because it claims it had to make excessive =
retirement
payments while cutting its workforce. It has run in the red for three =
years.
<BR>When its workers went on strike, management decided to sell the =
company,
and notified three domestic companies, including Samick, of its =
intention.
<BR>Currently, domestic piano makers are going through a deep slump. =
<BR>Young
Chang's sales for the first half are only 60 percent of its sales a =
year ago.
People are selling their pianos rather than buying new ones. Used =
pianos take
up around 70 percent of the domestic piano market currently, worsening =
the
condition for piano makers. <BR>The commission's decision has =
discouraged the
domestic piano industry, which is already in difficulty, said an =
official of
the =
industry.<BR><BR><BR><?/x-tad-bigger><?/fontfamily><B><?fontfamily><?para=
m =
Verdana><?x-tad-bigger>http://tinyurl.com/4usk2<?/x-tad-bigger><?/fontfam=
ily></B></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
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