Roland buys DW

Roland buys DW, as well as DW companies: PDP, LP, Gretsch, Slingerland. The transaction amount will be 65 million US dollars.

Why is Roland buying DW?
DW has been developing its line of high end electronic drums.
Roland and DW are aiming for the future with the combination of acoustic and electronic drums.
Roland is buying technology that will speed up the adoption of hybrid drums.

Electronic drums account for 23% of total drum sales, 60% of which come from Roland.
77% of total drum sales come from acoustic drums, 8% of which comes from DW.

There is also a good chance that Roland will use DW pedals first (for example, the DW 5000 is very popular with drummers).

Roland, along with DW, want to launch hybrid drums, given their huge contribution to the development of both acoustic and electronic drums.

Roland is a huge corporation with over 30 years of experience building and manufacturing electronic drums. Roland has very few competitors, DW could become a contender in the premium electronic drum class, which is probably why DW is now on the same team with Roland.