Brunswick ends sale process of Sea Ray line
June 30, 2018
METTAWA, Illinois — Brunswick Corp. announced on June 25 it had ended the sale process of its Sea Ray business. The company added it would instead focus on growth opportunities in the sport boat and cruiser segments.
Production of Sea Ray’s sport yacht and yacht models will discontinued this year.
“[Brunswick] has ended the sale process for its Sea Ray business, including the Meridian brand [and] will retain and revitalize Sea Ray and leverage its premium brand to capitalize on growth opportunities in its sport boat and cruiser product categories,” a Brunswick press release stated. “[The company] will discontinue Sea Ray sport yacht and yacht models, resulting in the wind down of yacht production in the third quarter of 2018.”
Brunswick Chairman and CEO Mark Schwabero stated offers for the Sea Ray sale fell short of expectations.
“Although there was interest in the business, the offers we received did not reflect an appropriate value for this premium brand, and did not meet our expectations,” Schwarbero said in a released statement. “The lower value was largely due to the persistently weak financial performance of the yacht product category, which complicated and obscured the value of the remainder of Sea Ray.”
The winding down of sport yacht and yacht production at Brunswick’s Sykes Creek and Palm Coast facilities in Florida are likely to result in the elimination of as many as 825 positions, the company said in a released statement.
“Palm Coast is targeted for closure as soon as practical in 2018, while a portion of Sykes Creek will continue to operate for the foreseeable future to support customer service and warranty obligations, along with other operational requirements,” Brunswick’s announcement stated.
