Taiwan’s HTC to buy stake in Dr Dre firm

TAIPEI – Taiwan’s leading smartphone maker HTC said Thursday it plans to pay about $309 million for a 51 percent stake in a firm run by US star producer Dr Dre that produces high-end headphones.

HTC and Beats Electronics LLC are working together to create a line of HTC headsets offering “high performance sound” to be available this fall, a company statement said.

Beats, the brainchild of Dr. Dre and chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records Jimmy Iovine, will continue to operate autonomously with Iovine as chairman, the statement said.

“We believe our strategic partnership will provide customers with unbeatable sound on HTC phones,” said HTC chief executive officer Peter Chou.

Built by electronics firm Monster the headphones have proved hugely popular around the world for their superior sound and Beats has signed up several artists to put their names to the label, with Lady Gaga the most recent.

Beats also has partnerships with a number of other companies, including Hewlett-Packard and Chrysler Group.

Dr Dre is a globally successful rapper and producer and has worked with some of the biggest names in music, including Eminem, Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake.