Bose & Flex expand partnership – transfers ownership of operations

As part of the new agreement, ownership and operation of Bose's manufacturing and development operations in San Luis, Mexico and Penang, Malaysia will transfer to Flex, and Flex will assume current and planned Bose production in both facilities. "Bose has a diverse product line in ever-changing industries," said Bryan Fontaine, executive vice president, Bose Global Operations. "We've always used independent manufacturers to support our global business, and have used Flex in that capacity for over a year. Now, we've chosen them to assume the work in two of our plants because their deep expertise and infrastructure will help us keep pace with our current and future product plans, and meet our projected growth in current and emerging markets. They're also innovators and can meet our quality standards. But just as importantly, we think that Flex's corporate culture is most aligned with ours, and that's important for our employees." Bose's San Luis and Penang plants production includes select headphones, wireless speakers, home theatre systems and professional products. Combined, they have approximately 3'500 employees, and under the terms of the agreement, Flex will retain the vast majority of both teams. "Bose is an iconic leader in audio performance, innovation and quality," said Mike Dennison, president, Consumer Technology Group at Flex. "We're pleased to expand our strategic relationship, and help them get to market at an even faster rate with our world-class global supply chain solutions." Operations will transfer upon the transaction's closing which is scheduled to occur during 2016.