The marine industry is “unusually fragmented,” and Chris-Craft president Stephen Heese thinks that will continue to change in the coming years.
This story originally appeared in Trade Only Today.
“Public companies have capitol and private companies don’t unless they lever up with debt,” Heese told Trade Only Today after announcing Winnebago would buy Chris-Craft.
“The marine industry is fragmented, and it’s unusually fragmented given its maturity,” said Heese.
That’s because boat building has become more sophisticated, so increasingly, it takes scale, Heese said — and not having it will “squeeze out the little guys.”
The consolidation has been going on for some time, Heese said, pointing to Malibu’s acquisition of Cobalt Boats, MasterCraft’s purchase of Nautic Star, and Correct Craft’s purchases, most recently of Bryant Boats.
Winnebago’s purchase of Chris-Craft was one of several announcements in the last week; Polaris also announced it had struck a deal to buy Indiana-based Boat Holdings, which includes Bennington Pontoons, Godfrey, Hurricane and Rinker.
Patrick Industries Inc. also completed its purchase of Dowco, a manufacturer of boat covers, bimini tops, boat enclosures, mounting hardware and other accessories.
With the exception of Correct Craft, all the acquisitions were made by public companies.
Winnebago CEO Michael Happe told analysts on Thursday that the company will look to expand Chris-Craft into new segments.
