www.psneurope.com
November 2013 l 05
news BENELUX/FRANCE Apex Audio files for bankruptcy
Leading manufacturer and distributor based in Belgium calls in administrator, much to surprise of clients. Dave Robinson and Marc Maes report
APEX AUDIO NV, the Belgium-based manufacturing, distribution and solutions company of 22 years’ standing, filed for bankruptcy with the Hasselt Court on Thursday, 17 October. Company director Paul van Hees, when asked, has confirmed the situation but declined to comment further. The administrator for Apex has been named as Bussers Patrick (
bussers.adv@
skynet.be). All concerned parties are requested to contact him by 17 November. Apex Audio was formed in
1991 by van Hees and Eddy Bergers (formerly of electrical giant Philips), and the company’s first product was the PE-133 equaliser. The most recent design was the Intelli-X2 48 192kHz processor. Apex, based in Beringen-Paal to the north-east of Brussels, comprised three subsidiaries, (Apex BeLux, Apex Holland and Apex France), employing around 18 staff. Renaud Schoonbroodt, R&D
director since 2000, had already left the business before the filing. Rik Hoerée, sales & technical director at Apex BeLux and Apex France, left the company one year ago for a post at Riedel.
Apex was a distributor of
many brands across several sectors, including DHD, AVT, Coda, DiGiCo, Genelec, Mogami, Riedel and Sonifex. “I have known Paul for
25 years, when he was sales manager with EML sales. I’ve witnessed the company’s growth from a close distance,”
comments sound engineer Patrick Demoustier. “I heard the news on my 50th birthday and it was very emotional – a business icon is at an end…” he concludes. “Nobody saw this coming,” comments Jo Van den Wijngaerde – CEO of rental house Soundfield, and one of
the leading DiGiCo users in Belgium. “We recently had meetings about upgrading and expansion of our DiGiCo inventory. We still have equipment in Apex’s repair workshop and are talking to the administrator to retrieve it.” Soundfield was the first to use the SD5 console in Belgium – the company currently has six DiGiCo desks for rental. Van den Wijngaerde says he had the impression that Apex was a
healthy company despite the economic crisis. “We were all surprised…” Pieter Begard, managing
director of Studio Haifax, echoes his peer. “At this stage we’re preparing a major project involving quite some new Coda kit – 24 new cabinets and monitors – with Apex playing a crucial role,” says Begard. “We now must see how to continue with Coda directly and give us the support Apex would.” Studio Haifax also uses three DiGiCo consoles and Apex products for rental assignments. “You could say that a considerable part of our business is based on Apex,” adds Begard. “Nobody expected this.”
www.apex-audio.be
Paul van Hees (left) and Renaud Schoonbroodt outside the Apex HQ on the occasion of the anniversary of the company’s 20th anniversary in 2011
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