Bennington purchases Global Nautica ?
- Thread starter Mark649
- Start date
lakeliving
Well-Known Member
Interesting.
There is quite a few brands. Even Sweetwater, San Pan and Aqua Patio, it looks like.
http://www.nauticglobalgroup.com
Contact: Jeffrey Roth
Director, Marketing Communications
Phone: 574-522-8381
Email JRoth@NauticGlobalGroup.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nautic Global Group Acquisition by Bennington a Win for Dealers
(Elkhart, Indiana, USA, Monday, September 21, 2015)
James R. (Jim) Malone, Chairman & CEO of Nautic Global Group and Steve Vogel, Chairman, and Jacob Vogel, CEO of Bennington Marine, have announced that the companies have signed a definitive acquisition agreement whereby Bennington Marine will acquire the brands and certain assets and liabilities of Nautic Global Group. Bennington Marine, family owned and operated by the Vogel family since Steve Vogel founded the business in 1997, is the premier maker of pontoon boats in the industry. Nautic Global Group is one of the leading manufacturers of a broad line of some of the best-known brands in the recreational boat industry including: Aqua Patio, Sweetwater, SanPan, Hurricane, Rinker, Godfrey and PolarKraft.
Both Nautic Global Group and Bennington Marine are headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana.
Jim Malone stated that "the entire Elkhart area community will benefit from the acquisition of these great boat brands - as this represents a big win for the employees, dealers and customer end users - we're pleased that the company is being acquired by one of the most highly regarded companies in the boating industry."
According to Chairman Steve Vogel, "Nautic Global Group is an industry pioneer and has some of the best known, most trusted brands in the industry. We have always respected what the company has accomplished. We look forward to working closely with Nautic's world-class management team to make the transition as efficient and seamless as possible for employees, vendors and dealers. We believe the Nautic brands resonate strongly with the consumer and are poised to grow significantly in the future while exceeding the high expectations it has continually set for its products and services. Bennington is the ideal partner to help achieve these goals for this business. "
Bennington CEO Jacob Vogel added, "This represents an exciting opportunity for both companies. By putting some of the strongest brands in the marine industry together in one corporate family, we will be able to better provide dealers and consumers with the highest quality, most innovative products and back them with the best services and warranties in the industry. This is truly a historic transaction in the boating industry. "
Malone added that "Having these brands be acquired by a stable, established industry player which knows the segments well, is a great win for our dealers and employees."
CEO Vogel noted "Current dealers of either or both brands will have opportunities to expand their representation and the companies announced that the intention is to distribute dealer-specific news and meetings scheduled shortly after the closing of the transaction which is anticipated to be October 2, 2015. At this time we are planning on operating these acquired brands and businesses as an organization separate from Bennington, but with the same world class attention to quality and customer service."
Stephens Inc. served as financial advisor to Bennington Marine.
http://www.nauticglobalgroup.com
Contact: Jeffrey Roth
Director, Marketing Communications
Phone: 574-522-8381
Email JRoth@NauticGlobalGroup.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nautic Global Group Acquisition by Bennington a Win for Dealers
(Elkhart, Indiana, USA, Monday, September 21, 2015)
James R. (Jim) Malone, Chairman & CEO of Nautic Global Group and Steve Vogel, Chairman, and Jacob Vogel, CEO of Bennington Marine, have announced that the companies have signed a definitive acquisition agreement whereby Bennington Marine will acquire the brands and certain assets and liabilities of Nautic Global Group. Bennington Marine, family owned and operated by the Vogel family since Steve Vogel founded the business in 1997, is the premier maker of pontoon boats in the industry. Nautic Global Group is one of the leading manufacturers of a broad line of some of the best-known brands in the recreational boat industry including: Aqua Patio, Sweetwater, SanPan, Hurricane, Rinker, Godfrey and PolarKraft.
Both Nautic Global Group and Bennington Marine are headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana.
Jim Malone stated that "the entire Elkhart area community will benefit from the acquisition of these great boat brands - as this represents a big win for the employees, dealers and customer end users - we're pleased that the company is being acquired by one of the most highly regarded companies in the boating industry."
According to Chairman Steve Vogel, "Nautic Global Group is an industry pioneer and has some of the best known, most trusted brands in the industry. We have always respected what the company has accomplished. We look forward to working closely with Nautic's world-class management team to make the transition as efficient and seamless as possible for employees, vendors and dealers. We believe the Nautic brands resonate strongly with the consumer and are poised to grow significantly in the future while exceeding the high expectations it has continually set for its products and services. Bennington is the ideal partner to help achieve these goals for this business. "
Bennington CEO Jacob Vogel added, "This represents an exciting opportunity for both companies. By putting some of the strongest brands in the marine industry together in one corporate family, we will be able to better provide dealers and consumers with the highest quality, most innovative products and back them with the best services and warranties in the industry. This is truly a historic transaction in the boating industry. "
Malone added that "Having these brands be acquired by a stable, established industry player which knows the segments well, is a great win for our dealers and employees."
CEO Vogel noted "Current dealers of either or both brands will have opportunities to expand their representation and the companies announced that the intention is to distribute dealer-specific news and meetings scheduled shortly after the closing of the transaction which is anticipated to be October 2, 2015. At this time we are planning on operating these acquired brands and businesses as an organization separate from Bennington, but with the same world class attention to quality and customer service."
Stephens Inc. served as financial advisor to Bennington Marine.
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sunnyside360
Well-Known Member
Have to believe this explains why Bennington recently took the dealership away from our local dealer and gave it to another larger dealer which already had been selling San Pan, Sweat Water, Aqua Patio, Hurricane, and etc. along with Yamaha outboards.
Wild and Free
Well-Known Member
This will be interesting how they work this out at my local dealerships, One large one carries almost all the brands that Bennington acquired and another local competing dealer carries Benny. They have flip flopped on fishing boat lines like Lund and Ranger in the past already for other reasons. Wait and see...................
SEMPERFI8387
Moderator
So will the forum become club.benningtonAquaPatioSweetwaterSanPanHurricaneRinkerGodfreyPolarKraft.com ?? 
goldnrod24
Moderator
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No.So will the forum become club.benningtonAquaPatioSweetwaterSanPanHurricaneRinkerGodfreyPolarKraft.com ??
lakeliving
Well-Known Member
There goes the neighborhood!!!
SEMPERFI8387
Moderator
It's not a surprise the strongest company in the industry is growing. It just goes to show how strong Bennington has become,
and this was while the economy was in shambles. They are the leader for a reason. .......
and this was while the economy was in shambles. They are the leader for a reason. .......
guardrail22
Well-Known Member
Buy a competitor, shut it down and contract the market. Is B threatened by any of these brands? My guess is one or two of the low end brands take the Bennington S design and become the "entry" level boats.
Some dealer contraction for sure.
FWIW I never saw any of those brands as a good value.
Some dealer contraction for sure.
FWIW I never saw any of those brands as a good value.
Remediation
Well-Known Member
The 4 brands that global had of pontoons just dilutes the market share for entry level pontoons. They might have bought the corp to give themselves an entry to the runabout market and increase their market share of the pontoons.
Almost any market consolidates to 3 major players. Bennington looks like they made a smart move.
Almost any market consolidates to 3 major players. Bennington looks like they made a smart move.
TomS
Well-Known Member
Instant plant capacity locally in the area, access to skilled labor, Fiberglas know how, decent brand equity if they choose. Just apply the quality and customer service principles at B and it could be a win for growth.
Bamaman
Well-Known Member
It's a very smart move by Bennington. Since 2008, there's be so many boat manufacturers go out of business, and only the strongest have survived.
There have been many consolidations in boat manufacturing like was seen at Ranger, Stratos and Triton in bass boats. All three brands were great boats but all 3 companies were unsuccessful in the profit department--bottom line. Their brands and molds were purchased out of bankruptcy for maybe 10 cents on the dollar. Then the production was consolidated in one huge factory in Flippen, AR. It opened up different brands to be sold at better boat dealerships than in the past. Then the hedge fund that put the three brands together sold out for a fortune to the owners of Bass Pro Shops.
In the pontoon boat business, the only manufacturers seeing any sales increases are Bennington and the Forest RIver group that's owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway. Needless to say, they've got a deep pocketbook.
With the Bennington-Global Nautica consolidation, I assume Bennington also made a very advantageous purchase. They can both get rid of competition and gain a new dealer base that may be in places Bennington's never had dealers in. And they can choose between the best of dealers. It's a win-win for Bennington and something they needed to do for self preservation. It was a very smart move. I can see some brand names disappearing however I can see their remaining brands getting much larger in sales.
There have been many consolidations in boat manufacturing like was seen at Ranger, Stratos and Triton in bass boats. All three brands were great boats but all 3 companies were unsuccessful in the profit department--bottom line. Their brands and molds were purchased out of bankruptcy for maybe 10 cents on the dollar. Then the production was consolidated in one huge factory in Flippen, AR. It opened up different brands to be sold at better boat dealerships than in the past. Then the hedge fund that put the three brands together sold out for a fortune to the owners of Bass Pro Shops.
In the pontoon boat business, the only manufacturers seeing any sales increases are Bennington and the Forest RIver group that's owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway. Needless to say, they've got a deep pocketbook.
With the Bennington-Global Nautica consolidation, I assume Bennington also made a very advantageous purchase. They can both get rid of competition and gain a new dealer base that may be in places Bennington's never had dealers in. And they can choose between the best of dealers. It's a win-win for Bennington and something they needed to do for self preservation. It was a very smart move. I can see some brand names disappearing however I can see their remaining brands getting much larger in sales.
SEMPERFI8387
Moderator
Actually, they did fiberglass deck boats years back .... http://www.boats.com/sites/theboatbroker/gallery?&entityid=114764271&mid=1143&ceid=223203&galleryBack=%2Fsites%2Ftheboatbroker%2Fboat%3Fentityid%3D114764271&baseurl=%2Fsites%2Ftheboatbroker&pic=6&style=dw
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TomS
Well-Known Member
Quite true, but it's just not a core competency for them today. Competitors are using glass a lot more, as is Bennington on the new Q, so they need to be the best at it when it's on the flagship.
gnc1017
Well-Known Member
And Azure boats as well. My understanding were great boats too. As Tom said, glass boats obviously not a core competency... Guessing as likely a part of the reason for the buyout?
Bamaman
Well-Known Member
We have an Azure deckboat close to us, and it's the nicest such boat on the market. I would think it'd be a little expensive to produce since it was such a substantial boat. The deckboat market is actually dominated by one manufacturer with cheaper boats.
We've seen some pontoon owners go to deckboats only to return to tritoons. They now perform so well with the bigger engines.
We've seen some pontoon owners go to deckboats only to return to tritoons. They now perform so well with the bigger engines.
SEMPERFI8387
Moderator
I always wondered what market deck boats were geared to. Kind of remind me of a Frankenstein of boats. I guess it gives stability/performance of a v-bottom but spacious deck of pontoon?
TomS
Well-Known Member
We used to have a ton of them around here, mostly Harris-Kayot brand. The wide and flat/low deadrise bottom pounds unmercifully on wakes, and it's also fairly easy to take water over the bow under certain conditions.