Manufacturer Code: DEI

At the end of 2000, Darrell and Kathy Issa sold controlling interest in the company to Trivest, Inc., a private equity firm based in Miami, Florida, and stepped down from day-to-day operation of the company. In January 2001, Jim Minarik, formerly President and CEO of Clarion Corporation of America, took the helm as President and CEO of Directed Electronics. Later that year, the company acquired the well-known Orion® Car Audio brand. In 2004, Directed acquired Definitive Technology®. The company went public in 2005 and in 2006, acquired Polk Audio®. At about the same time, the company also made a series of strategic acquisitions in Canada, including Astroflex®, Autostart®, Directed Canada and XPRESSKIT®. Reacting to these changes, Directed adopted a holding company structure in 2008, renaming the parent company DEI Holdings, Inc.