Michigan firm Gentex to buy Voxx International for $196M

Voxx International Corp., a consumer electronics manufacturer with operations in Hauppauge, will be acquired in 2025 by a Michigan-based auto-tech company for approximately $196 million.

Voxx was founded in 1960 as Audiovox before going public in 1987. The Orlando, Florida-based company announced earlier this month that it had entered into an agreement to be purchased by Gentex Corporation in an all-cash deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approval.

Gentex, headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, will buy all issued and outstanding shares of Voxx’s stock for $7.50 per share, according to statements from both companies.

“The transaction with Gentex ensures a seamless transition for our brands, employees, customers and partners,” said Ari Shalam, chairman of the board of directors at Voxx and son of company founder John J. Shalam, in a statement.

Voxx's Hauppauge facility manages back-office functions, including operations, logistics, accounting, customer service and information technology, according to spokesman Glenn Wiener.

Voxx officials declined to comment on the sale or its impact on the company’s 135 Long Island employees. Gentex officials also declined to comment on the acquisition’s local implications until the deal is finalized.

In 2015, Voxx, which was once headquartered on Long Island, announced the company was relocating its base of operations to a $17 million, 125,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing plant in Florida.

The company, which sells its products to automotive original equipment manufacturers and specialty consumer electronics retailers, owns 30 brands, including Klipsch, Onkyo and Magnat.

Voxx originated as an import trading business. Founder John J. Shazam, the son of an Egyptian textile merchant who immigrated to the U.S. in 1948, launched the company after a potential buyer refused to pay for an order of 2,000 transistor car radios, saddling him with the unsold equipment. Shalam sold the radios for $2 each throughout Brooklyn and Queens, officially starting the electronics company.