Mastercraft and Malibu in trouble?

[kaikane]

RE: Re: RE: Master Craft 300

To wakeslayers point, I think CC has their eyes open and is managing through the current downturn very effectively. Yet another re-assurance i made the right choice getting my 236 this summer. Even if they have 200 boats in unsold inventory...that is an extremely low number compared to the overall US boat market. Assuming there are 50 dealers in the U.S. (probably more) that means an average of 4 boats per dealer sitting on the floor. They certainly have not spent outlandish dollars on useless R&D (go MC/BU) for entry into the salt water market or designing freshwater boats with useless 'upgrades'. Agreed, all manufacturers need to be cautious with their cash but i think we all can agree, CC seems to be making all the right moves and should be supporting our boats for years to come.

[SkiTundra]

RE: Re: RE: Master Craft 300

Some Speculation... Mastercraft is, I believe, owned by Penske (31%), Charlesbank Capital (31%), and other (38%). The other comprised primarily of mgmt? Charlesbank is an MBO fund and currently has a fair amount of exposure in this particular fund (Fund V) though some strong performers as well. They will only pour more funding in to Mastercraft if they are nearly certain of a turnaround and that their return on the new investment will be greater than investments needed by other struggling companies in this fund (eg, they're not likely to invest more in Mastercraft). My guess would be that the 'other' funders do not have the cash to buy them out and that Penske would be reluctant to unless purely for love of boats. So, depending on Mastercraft's internal numbers (cash on hand, debt, inventory turnover, supplier agreements) Charlesbank will either allow the company to stick it out to the extent that they can effect a turnaround with no additional funding, or liquidate their position in Mastercraft which would likely mean ceasing all ongoing operations and liquidating assets. My guess would be that Mastercraft would then continue as a non-operating entity (investors own name, patents, molds, goodwill) until someone was interesting in purchasing it and restarting.

As to recent new boat announcements. It's not unusual for investors to keep a company going full throttle and then suddenly pull the plug. Given the rumors I've heard though I'd guess they will slim down dramatically this year and continue operations hoping for a turnaround next year.

[kevfran99]

Re: RE: Re: RE: Master Craft 300

To wakeslayers point, I think CC has their eyes open and is managing through the current downturn very effectively. Yet another re-assurance i made the right choice getting my 236 this summer. Even if they have 200 boats in unsold inventory...that is an extremely low number compared to the overall US boat market. Assuming there are 50 dealers in the U.S. (probably more) that means an average of 4 boats per dealer sitting on the floor. They certainly have not spent outlandish dollars on useless R&D (go MC/BU) for entry into the salt water market or designing freshwater boats with useless 'upgrades'. Agreed, all manufacturers need to be cautious with their cash but i think we all can agree, CC seems to be making all the right moves and should be supporting our boats for years to come.

I know my local dealer only has one leftover 08 in stock. The others are 09s and I know they have already sold several 09s.

[CD]

I recently bought a new 08 CC and got a very good price, i know that the factory was more aggressive one week to the next with its pricing and it made it affordable for me. I was also looking at a MC but had my heart set on a CC, the difference in price between the CC & MC was significant and in my opinion i was buying less boat if i had bought the MC. I went to the boat show in our area this month and the MC that i was looking at was at the show on display, so they were also show casing 08 product at the show. I know the MC dealer is sitting on alot of product too, if i were them i would be sharpening my pencil.

[Nautiquehunter]

CD
I see you are in BC we go to Whistler almost every year. It looks to me that MC has the same
sales tactics even in Canada. I almost bought a X15 but couldn't even get close on price even
on a 08 with the 09s out . Because of that I demoed a 210 and saw there is no comparison
I now own a 08 210 . I still don't see MC doing anything different they have many problems to overcome.

[j2nh]

The name of the game in manufacturing is operating at (>90%) capacity. I don't think there is a boat company today that is anywhere near that so no doubt they are all under considerable financial pressure, just like everybody else in the US.
When Mastercraft hooked up with Penske and Charlesbank Capital in 2007 they stated a claim of doubling their revenue in 5 years. Very aggressive and no doubt they are feeling the heat more than a company like CC that appears to have a much more conservative growth plan. Nothing like gearing up for doubling your sales and then having the bottom fall out.
This is going to be one rough ride.

[CAN'TSKI]

I was told today at a dealer that Mastercraft just furloughed 400 people. Just about everyone but maintenance. I don't see anything on the net. Is this a rumor?

[drnautiques]

not looking good from reading this thread.

[JUST-IN-TIME]

MC has a on of boats to buy back because Copen Mcpheters went CH11
they had a huge market on boats

look at Olympic Boats also, they had all Brunswick boats also

North river marine announced today to shut down stores and let independents pick them up

My brother-in-law just picked up an 08 LSV for 06 prices, it was a CH 11 boat
Malibu is taking all the CH11 boats back and is going all through them and getting things fixed, you can buy factory direct now with cash in hand!

[SkiTundra]

I was told today at a dealer that Mastercraft just furloughed 400 people. Just about everyone but maintenance. I don't see anything on the net. Is this a rumor?

Certainly possible, but there's nothing in either the Maryville or Knoxville papers about it which are the locals. Knoxville seems to generally do a good job of staying on top of what's happening with Mastercraft and Brunswick.

[Nautiquehunter]

MC has a on of boats to buy back because Copen Mcpheters went CH11
they had a huge market on boats

look at Olympic Boats also, they had all Brunswick boats also

North river marine announced today to shut down stores and let independents pick them up

My brother-in-law just picked up an 08 LSV for 06 prices, it was a CH 11 boat
Malibu is taking all the CH11 boats back and is going all through them and getting things fixed, you can buy factory direct now with cash in hand!

If they are selling factory direct who is going to take care of warranty?

[snowboardcorey]

Lot of speculation out there but for the record MC is not selling factory direct. They pulled out of Copes over a year ago and well before the melt down, they set up new dealers in the territory and I would guess 99% of the boats went to the new dealers, I know we never saw any here in MN.

That being said its a tough lot for the entire industry right now, the ski boat guys seem to be in a little better position than the majority of the runabout guys.

[JUST-IN-TIME]

Malibu is factory direct now, not MC

[Hlymons]

My understanding was they did not pull out of Cope's. What I was told, MC wanted Copes to agree to buy 100 2008 models. At the time they were sitting on close to 50 2007's. With sales dramaticly down they agreed to part ways.

[JUST-IN-TIME]

yea and cope still had 05 boats in 2008, not a good sign