Ranger, Champion and Stratos sold

[619]

We are pleased to announce that Platinum Equity Group is now the owner of Ranger, Champion and Stratos Boats.

Great News for everyone associated and all the owners and future owners of these fine products.

Art Bailey
Anglers Marine San Diego
619-449-3474

[DaveH]

Isn't that the group that Richard Greer's character headed up in Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts...
I wonder how long it will take before some group from Dubai owns all of them, and reformats all the boats into a sand sled, of course
they'll still offer options...
Sorry Art, couldn't hold myself back....

[FinesseKid]

Any chance you have a 201 Evo on the floor?

[fishinman]

Dave, To rattle off info like you did, your head must really hurt to hold all that infomation. How could you hold back! If I had a memory bank like yours I couldn't hold back either!

[DaveH]

Dave, To rattle off info like you did, your head must really hurt to hold all that infomation. How could you hold back! If I had a memory bank like yours I couldn't hold back either!

well, as I read Art's news, made me think of thank movie, not much of a thought, just lite humor!
Also made rememmber of the big group from Dubia who bought out the homebuilder I used to work for.
So I see that Art was please that the situation with Gemmar is over and they have a new owner and there's promises of new wealth to come... Time will tell, so if my memory bank... Remmebers a silk lining in a sows ear...

[bryanmc]

So, forgive me for not knowing who the players are, but, does this mean Irwin Jacobs is no longer associated with Ranger, Genmar, et al?

[Elmhurst bassman]

I think this is their portfolio...they have a hand in a lot of different companies

http://www.platinumequity.com/portfolio

[Steve Reed]

Genmar bankruptcy was very profitable for Irwin... Bankruptcy is what he does.

[bassaddicted]

Its a dam% shame that the gov. couldnt bail them out like the car companies . Just think if obammmma gave tax paying Americans 50,000 to 100,000 dollars we could have bailed out Ranger and the car co. We know alot of people that could use a new boat /truck/car. Not to mention pay house morgages, credit cards, open new businesses.

[mark poulson]

Its a dam% shame that the gov. couldnt bail them out like the car companies . Just think if obammmma gave tax paying Americans 50,000 to 100,000 dollars we could have bailed out Ranger and the car co. We know alot of people that could use a new boat /truck/car. Not to mention pay house morgages, credit cards, open new businesses.

Maybe we should have been bankers, or mortgage brokers. Or "too big to fail" IMG.
Next time someone starts talking about our capitalist, free market system, remind them that socialism, a.k.a. govt./taxpayer bailout money, saved their a$$es, and their "free market, self correcting, self regulating" system.
And cost me a job!

[kwikfish]

Its a dam% shame that the gov. couldnt bail them out like the car companies . Just think if obammmma gave tax paying Americans 50,000 to 100,000 dollars we could have bailed out Ranger and the car co. We know alot of people that could use a new boat /truck/car. Not to mention pay house morgages, credit cards, open new businesses.

Maybe we should have been bankers, or mortgage brokers. Or "too big to fail" IMG.
Next time someone starts talking about our capitalist, free market system, remind them that socialism, a.k.a. govt./taxpayer bailout money, saved their a$$es, and their "free market, self correcting, self regulating" system.
And cost me a job!

I'll say it again.....

Democracy requires accountability, and capitalism requires integrity. How much of both have we had in the past decade or two?

[scottsweet]

Yes. However, they will likely be doing business with him. He owns a technology that one of the boat manufacturers uses as well as FLW.

[bigbass111]

Some interesting points to look at with all of this....This is part of an article in Bassfan..

Now that Ranger's independent of FLW Outdoors and Jacobs, FLW Outdoors needs to knock at Ranger's door, same as it would for any potential sponsor. And I say potential sponsor because Ranger is, right now, only a potential sponsor. Genmar specified last week that the winning bidder need not assume the approximate $750,000 cost of Ranger's FLW sponsorship.

And remember that it was Jacobs who made the call for Ranger to pull its advertising and sponsorship from BASS. You can bet there'll be a voicemail waiting at Flippin headquarters Monday morning, probably from BASS VP and GM Tom Ricks, asking if Ranger would like to have an expanded presence at the upcoming Lay Lake Bassmaster Classic.

And what about FLW Outdoors as a whole? It's anyone's guess whether Jacobs ever made a dime from holding tournaments that wasn't counted as a Ranger boat sale. He said many times he wasn't in the tournament business to make money. He was in it to sell boats.

Now that he doesn't have bass or walleye boats to sell, will he stay in the tournament business? My guess is no.

Genmar was a sinking ship that he couldn't save, and I don't believe he'll stick around to fix a listing tournament organization. Genuine concern should be there from everyone in the sport for employees and families that depend on that league, because as I see it, the next big sale in fishing could in fact be FLW Outdoors.

Are there potential buyers? Platinum Equity appears to have deep pockets.

Then again, Jacobs might have one last trick up his sleeve. He appears to be talking with Platinum about the possibility of buying back FinCraft – a new glass-boat line that, through the use of VEC technology, retails in the low- to mid-teens. FinCraft wasn't an initial target for Platinum, but the company owns the brand now.

Could the future include a re-invented FLW Outdoors, charged with a mission to redirect the tournament bass-boat market toward affordable glass boats? It would be risky, since the margins are so low on such sales, but it seems just the type of challenge Jacobs would relish.

[ash]

I dont know if the smoke has completely lifted for Ranger owners. Will this investment group piece meal sale off the assests and patents or build the brand just to sale it again? Time will tell - I am just glad I know my boat company is family owned and is not up on the chopping block due to over reaching and greed.

Seems like there is still a vetting period to see what is in store for Ranger in the future.....

[Greg_Cornish]

I dont know if the smoke has completely lifted for Ranger owners. Will this investment group piece meal sale off the assests and patents or build the brand just to sale it again? Time will tell - I am just glad I know my boat company is family owned and is not up on the chopping block due to over reaching and greed.

Seems like there is still a vetting period to see what is in store for Ranger in the future.....

I love my Lowe Pontoon.

[Rick G]

This is the group that the upper management at Ranger wanted to end up with the company. They will get to run it like the family run style busines it has been for over 40 years. Randy Hopper is the best boat company president in the business and would have never agreed to stay and run the place if they were going to strip mine it. The warrantee's will be honored and the dealers and reps will all get TCO. Good times ahead. Rick G.

[DaveH]

This is the group that the upper management at Ranger wanted to end up with the company. They will get to run it like the family run style busines it has been for over 40 years. Randy Hopper is the best boat company president in the business and would have never agreed to stay and run the place if they were going to strip mine it. The warrantee's will be honored and the dealers and reps will all get TCO. Good times ahead. Rick G.

I don't know what you been smokin, but time to wake up and smell the rose's .
Hopper will be gone the first year and be replaced by Larry the Cable Guy...

[tbob]

These guys buy good companies with good management when the timing is right, and the price was definitely way better now than it was a few years ago. They obviously own a lot of companies, and it has been the rage lately for investment groups to buy private versus buying public companies.
The Wood family obviously knows how to run Ranger very well. Things got a lot more out of sorts with the whole Genmar deal with all the other non bass boat companies. Now they are basically back to being a bass boat company with 3 great lines of boats ( Ranger, Champion and Stratos ).

[Robert F]

Why did the Wood family sell Ranger in the first place? Did it fail before Genmar? This is the second BK that I know of for Champion. Maybe somebody like Platinum needs to own these things and take part or all of them to the glue factory. It may be smart to vaporize Champion and Stratos.

Platinum bought the San Diego Union-Tribune recently and they are cleaning house. They are not in this to make FLW. They are in it to make money. I doubt it is going to be business as usual.

[Brian D.]

They are not in this to make FLW. They are in it to make money. I doubt it is going to be business as usual.

I'm with you on this Robert. Being part of two differnent companies buyouts it wasnt pretty for the employees nor the companies we were doing business with.

Fingers crossed that all three boat brands comes thru without too many casualties. I do love my ChampioN.

[Rick G]

Why did the Wood family sell Ranger in the first

place? Did it fail before Genmar? This is the second BK that I know of for Champion. Maybe somebody like Platinum needs to own these things and take part or all of them to the glue factory. It may be smart to vaporize Champion and Stratos.

Platinum bought the San Diego Union-Tribune recently and they are cleaning house. They are not in this to make FLW. They are in it to make money. I doubt it is going to be business as usual.

The Wood family sold it because Forrest had made his money in the boat business and wanted to retire. The guy owns half of Southwest Arkansas and most of the property along the White River. He would rather deal in cows because they dont complain and know it all. Champion was BK'd by the Porthouse family because daddy Porthouse gave the keys to the car to the kid and he crashed it into the wall. All Champion ever needed is some influence of new technology and proper marketing. I will be suprised if Platinum paid 55M to trash the lines. But what do I know. Smarter guys are in charge than me. Rick G.[/quote]

[bigbass111]

70 million actually.... And I too see Champion and Stratos taking the biggest hits in this. Ranger however will probably be ran better now that Irwin is gone. Hopper will probably have more room to work with now and the wheels should turn just fine.

I do however see Ranger sales dropping. I do not believe FLW will have a choice on who runs what. Now that Irwin has lost Ranger he will probably step out of the Tournament buisness. HIs whole goal was to sell boats, thats not the situation anymore. With the re-stucturing of FLW in the future, people will now have a choice on what they want to run (and get a full payout doing so). People may say Irwin's going to work something out with Ranger, but it won't be the same.

In fact Irwin may be out of boats completely, the creditors are objecting to him buying the yacht companies. Stating he is using monies owed to the current BK. I dont see him even being able to keep what he just bought.

[Robert F]

The Wood family sold it because Forrest had made his money in the boat business and wanted to retire. The guy owns half of Southwest Arkansas and most of the property along the White River. He would rather deal in cows because they dont complain and know it all. Champion was BK'd by the Porthouse family because daddy Porthouse gave the keys to the car to the kid and he crashed it into the wall. All Champion ever needed is some influence of new technology and proper marketing. I will be suprised if Platinum paid 55M to trash the lines. But what do I know. Smarter guys are in charge than me. Rick G.

[/quote]
So Ranger was always a gold standard property. Good to know. It just seems plausible that they may consider consolidating all three brands in to Ranger so they do not continue to fragment the market.

I loved my Champion and would still have one except for the FLW bonus and Ranger's resale value. I know what they did with the Union-Tribune was all about making a profitable company. The bottom line is that company can sell off some Real Estate right now as the parking structure is empty.

Something has to change within the boat lines but like you said these guys are much smarter than me. Hope for the best for all involved. Especially for me as an investor in the Ranger brand.

[Rick K of Ca]

1/12/2010
IBI news
Former Genmar chairman Irwin Jacobs told IBI that Platinum Equity purchased all the assets except the Carver and Marquis brands, which he acquired separately with business partner John Paul DeJoria for US$6m.

According to the paper, a third bidder, MCBC Hydra, acquired Genmar's Hydra-Sports brand for US$1m.

Jacobs said he made an agreement with Platinum Equity to purchase several other Genmar brands and facilities after the deal is approved by the court. "They said they would be glad to negotiate with me in good faith," said Jacobs. "I trust these people. We got to know them over the last three months." The former Genmar chief added that he doesn't expect Platinum Equity to shut down any brands.

Maybe Ranger, Champion and Stratos will go back to Jacob

[bigbass111]

I wouldn't bet on it....

The creditors have already objected to Irwins Carver purchase and he will probably not gain control of them. He is using monies owed to creditors from the Genmar BK...

I think the banks are smarter than him...