NOTE: The following post was made March 25, 2013

Since this post, there have been 3 additional articles I have created on this development:

* Short video explaining the news & my take on it

* Jorg Sprave Shares Personal Insights on Sale of Casablanca to Macro Motion

* Announcement from MacroSystem US on new Casablanca Company in Germany

There is official announcement in Germany today that the Macro Motion company has acquired the video editing (Casablanca) and home entertainment business (DVC) from MacroSystem Digital Video GmbH

You may recall that Macrosystem AG was acquired by the Loewe company back in December 2009.  Loewe is a consumer electronics company with a big presence in the HDTV market in Germany & the rest of Europe. 

This is an interesting development and one I believe could provide further stability for the Casablanca product line. The new parent company for Casablanca video editing, Macro Motion has been one of the apparently successful distributors/dealers for Casablanca products in Germany. 

You will find their current company website here: http://www.4dimotion.de/ (under the name 4 di Motion, I suspect they will have a new website with the new company name)

In fact - they are the same company that took over the service and support of the Smart Edit product line for Germany back in 2010.  The DVC product line is the home entertainment products that folks in North America would know only through the Media Manager (Relax Vision) as those products are sold only in Europe. 

From the official announcement dated March 25, 2013 (translated from the German language via Google Translate): 

"The Macro Motion GmbH will continue under the name Macro video editing system, the product groups (Casablanca) and home entertainment (DVC) develop and distribute," say the two directors Schirren Johann and Stefan Schulze. On existing distribution channels should be detained, the location for sales, service and support of all the macro system products will be moved to Kiel.

MacroSystem Digital Video GmbH focuses entirely on the future software engineering, where it occurs as a service.

"We know our customers Casablanca and DVC at the macro motion in good hands," says Jörg Sprave, Managing Director of Macro Digital Video GmbH, "The acquisition of SmartEdit products by Mr. Schulze Schirren and in 2010 worked brilliantly. With many years of relevant experience of the entrepreneur and the superbly equipped repair shop in Kiel pass the best possible conditions for a solid financial future. The Macro System GmbH can now fully focus on the strong growth in software development business. "

About the Macro Motion GmbH: The Macro Motion GmbH is a newly established company, with a focus on sales and development of video technology. The two founders Schirren Johann and Stefan Schulze already have a long experience in this field. With your company 4 Tue Motion GmbH they have been for many years one of the most successful sales and service partners MacroSystem Digital Video GmbH


Entertainment and is on both the German as well as international market. Since mid-2010 the MacroSystem Digital Video GmbH is a majority owned subsidiary of Loewe AG, Kronach / Upper Franconia.

 

 

Thoughtfully - the company announcement seeks to provide an answer for the question that many existing Casablanca customers would have:

    Will there be a new future MacroSystem products?
    Macro system will continue as a brand and the products are being developed. Also previously announced products such as Arabesk 6 are released naturally (Expected Release mid-April). Other new products are already being planned.

So the take-away from me is this - the Casablanca video editing side of Macrosytem business is being moved to this new parent company, Macro Motion where further development, etc will take place. 

It appears from this announcement that Jorg Sprave - many of whom see as the international public face of the Casablanca will no longer be closely associated with the prodcut line.