Genmar will be Sold!!!!!!!!

[LMITOUT]

Thanks BNS. Interesting perspective on the situation.

[delmuts]

Interesting reading. Thanks Bass! ( Although i did have to look "coalesce" up! ) Please keep us informed when facts become avaliable.

[bassNspear]

your welcome. Ill keep passing on more information when i recieve it

[JohnMickish]

Will somebody please reasure me that this is going to be good for the tournement crowd.

[Shorelunch]

Will somebody please reasure me that this is going to be good for the tournament crowd.

I don't see how it could be - short term at least. Ranger/Jacobs created the FLW and FLW leagues primarily to sell more Rangers. I believe that it is still true that Ranger's #1 boat buyer is their "pro-staff" and especially the league type of anglers. So, maybe Platinum will follow his path after the dust settles.

It will be an interesting tournament year or two. AIM and Lund glass has a chance to blossom, along w/Skeeter, Yar Craft and Warrior. Oh and possibly Nitro . . .

[rcatcherman]

Bass and Spear, Boy was that a lot of information to decipher. It sure was some interesting reading. It just is so confusing to see how many family's that are involved thru this whole mess. I sure hope it work's out for everyone involved, especially the family's.

[bassNspear]

i hope it does to. I hope they can keep the plant running in little falls for a least a few of the brands like fincraft and larson, so these people will have jobs

[JohnMickish]

Originally Posted By: mnfishinguy

Will somebody please reasure me that this is going to be good for the tournament crowd.

I don't see how it could be - short term at least. Ranger/Jacobs created the FLW and FLW leagues primarily to sell more Rangers. I believe that it is still true that Ranger's #1 boat buyer is their "pro-staff" and especially the league type of anglers. So, maybe Platinum will follow his path after the dust settles.

That is the way I see it as well. Without the dirrect connection between the FLW and Ranger (Irwin Jacobs), this really puts the FLW in for a tough year, and it was starting out to be a tough year already. They dropped the Walleye league events for 2010.

[rcatcherman]

Now if Fincraft and Larsen can sell?

[primetime49]

it doesnt sound like any transactions with Irwin are going to fly as the 4000 creditors are going to block the path he has taken and will probaly keep him out of boating buisness

Boat projects and other bidder will more than likely have whole boat market for next 2 years

the other bidders second and third bids will more than likely take over carver and marquis

genmar owed 100 million dollars to creditors and they are coming after it

[gregg52]

well i thought that whats the auction was all about

creditors devi up what the auction brought and the rest is

history..correct

they cant go after him or genmar as it no longer exist

right ???

or am i cornfused /??//

[bassNspear]

Inside the Genmar auction 1/11/2010

The committee of unsecured creditors today filed an objection to the approval of the three prevailing bids in the Genmar bankrupcty auction, which concluded Friday. The objection provides the first inside look at some of the auction proceedings and outcomes.

An objection by the committee was expected, as auction proceeds will be used first to pay secured creditors (Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bank and GE Finance). If additional money is left over, it would then begin to be used to pay the unsecured creditors.

According to the committee, there are over 4,000 unsecured creditors in the case owed approximately $100 million. Further, the committee contends that with the total auction value of approximately $77 million, unsecured creditors will receive no recompense, and will not even be reimbursed the expenses of filing their chapter 11 claims.

The objection asks the court not to approve any of the prevailing bids, but in lieu of that, it specifically asks the court to reject the $6.05 million prevailing bid of J & D Acquisitions and its principals Irwin Jacobs and John Paul DeJoria for the Genmar Yacht Group.

Apparently, Genmar Yacht Acquisition (GYA) submitted an identical bid for the Yacht Group, but Houlihan Lokey named Jacobs and DeJoria as the prevailing bid.

The committee wrote in its objection: "The reason stated by Houlihan at the auction for declaring the J & D bid, rather than the GYA bid, as the prevailing bid simply was that the final GYA bid did not exceed the J & D bid by the bidding increment... Houlihan did not set a bid increment for the Yacht Group assets prior to the auction, although it did announce a bid increment during the auction of the Yacht Group. The debtors' selection of the J & D bid, rather than the GYA bid, solely on the basis that the GYA bid matched, rather than exceeded, the J & D bid, is an insufficient reason to approve the J & D prevailing bid in the face of other considerations."

Such "other considerations," according to the committee, include its belief that GYA would be better capitalized to run the yacht business, and that Jacobs should not be allowed to use funds to re-acquire Genmar assets with so much money still owed to unsecured creditors.

"Upon information and belief, J & D is an affiliate of Irwin Jacobs," the objection read. "Jacobs is a significant direct or indirect equity holder of each of the debtors and is an insider of the debtors. Based upon the ongoing investigation being conducted by the committee's professionals, the committee presently believes that the debtors' estates include potential avoidance causes of action against Jacobs and certain of his other non-debtor affiliates, including Jacobs Trading, in potentially significant amounts."

The committee summarized its position by stating in the objection: "The estates hold avoidance causes of action against Jacobs, an insider of the debtors, and certain of his non-debtor affiliates for amounts conservatively estimated by the committee professionals to be in excess of $20 million. The estates avoidance causes of action do not constitute collateral for any of the secured creditors and these actions may well be the only source of recovery for the general unsecured creditors.

"J & D is an affiliate of Jacobs. If the J & D prevailing bid is approved, the purchase price paid by J & D will constitute a diversion by Jacobs of assets to the secured creditors, thereby making those assets unavailable to satisfy the avoidance causes of action that will benefit the unsecured creditors. The committee objects to Jacobs, an insider, or his non-debtor affiliates using any of their assets to reacquire portions of the debtors businesses while leaving over 4,000 unsecured creditors, owed over $100 million, unpaid."

[bassNspear]

this is going to go round and round!!

[bassNspear]

Genmar: the other bidder(s) 1/12/2010

Genmar recently filed a summary of last week's bankruptcy auction with the Minnesota Bankruptcy Court. The summary lays out the prevailing bids, as well as backup bids. A sale-approval hearing is set for tomorrow, and should the court reject a prevailing bid, it could award the sale to a backup bid.

According to the auction summary, Gores Boat Holdings LLC was the competing bidder against Platinum Equity for Genmar's core assets and is considered the backup bid. Like Platinum, the Gores Group is a giant equity and acquisition firm with offices in Los Angeles, Boulder and London. Some of its holdings include Westwood One, CompuDyne and Lineage Power. Gores Boat Holdings is presumably a new division established to acquire Genmar assets, much like Platinum's new Project Boat Holdings division.

Platinum's prevailing bid is listed as $66.25 million for assets named in the original stalking-horse bid, plus FinCraft, Seaswirl, Triumph, the Little Falls, Minn. plant, VEC equity and note receivable, Marine Media interests, plus Irwin Jacobs' note to Genmar. In addition to the $66.25 million, the bid includes the assumption of nearly $32 million in liabilities, including "a significant portion of post-petition administrative claims."

The gross value of the Gores backup bid is $60 million plus the assumption of nearly $32 million in liabilities ($6.25 million behind the Platinum bid). Unlike the Platinum bid, however, the Gores bid excludes some core assets such as the private plane in Flippin', Ark., Sarasota plant 1, the FinCraft, Seaswirl and Triumph brands, and the Little Falls plant, plus notes receivable and other assets beyond the original stalking-horse bid.

As noted by the Committee of Unsecured Creditors in its objection yesterdaythe backup bid for the Genmar Yacht Group comes from Genmar Yacht Acquisition, and is identical to the prevailing bid from J&D Acquisitions (headed by Irwin Jacobs and Paul DeJoria).

The backup bid for Hydra-Sports belongs to Platinum, which at $1 million matches the prevailing bid offered by MCBC Hydra Boats.

[ANYFISH2]

Just an update, for those interested, as of today, the closing date for the bankrupcy sale was pushed back to the 28th January.

Also good news was brought to us (little Falls) today,

From a release given to the employees at the Larson boat factory:

J & D ACQUISITIONS, LLC TO PURCHASE GENMAR ASSETS FROM AN AFFILIATE OF PLATINUM EQUITY

Irwin Jacobs, chairman of J&D Acquistision, LLC, ("J&D") announced today that J&D has agreed to purchase several Genmar businesses and assets from Project Baot Holdings, LLC an affiliate of Platinum Equity. The transaction is expected to be effective immediately after the Project Boat's acquisition of such businesses and assets from Genmar.

The assests being purchesed by J&D from Project Boat include the Larson, Seaswril, and FinCraft boat brands, along with the Little Falls, Minnesota, Larson Boat factory and its molds, epuipment, property, plant and inventories associated with all three brands. Additional purchases include the VEC Technology, Inc. ("VEC") company located in Greenville, Pennsylvania, and all of its property, plant, epuipment, inventory and all of VEC's patents and copyrights registered throughout the world. Also included in the purchase by J&D is the Triumph Boat Company, its brand, factory, epuipment, patents, and copyrights, molds and invertory located in Durham, North Carolina.

J&D has agreed to purchase from Project Boat several other assests, includind the Seaswirl Boat factory in culver, Oregon, Windsor Craft assets, plus several other additional miscellaneous assets.

Irwin Jacobs stated: "I'm very pleased that, after completions of the bankruptcy auction and approval process, we were able to negotiate an acceptable transaction with Platinum that will allow us to be able to keep the Larson Boat factory in Little Falls open and continue to build some ot the finest recreational boats in the world. It is my hope that over time we'll be able to bring back many, if not most, of the Larson Boat factory employees who've been laid off over the past 18 months."

Jacobs further stated: "I'm also very pleased that J&D was able to purchase from the Genmar bankruptcy estate all of the assets of the Carver and Marquis Yacht Companies in Pulaski, Wisconsin. Once again, it is my hope that over time we'll be able to bring back many of the Carver and Marquis employees who were also laid off over the past 18 months.

J&D is a partnership owned by Mr. John Paul DeJoria and the Jacobs Trading Company, LLC ("JTC") headquartered in Hopkins, Minnesota. JTC is a worlwide closeout wholesaler of consumer products that has ten (10) operations and locations throughout the United States and offices in Shanghai, China.

I am very excited to get this news. As well as very apprecitive to Mr. Jacobs and his partner Mr DeJoria for thier efforts to gain these business, and keep Larson boats alive in Little Falls. I firmly believe, if not for their hard work, the plant in Little Falls would have closed. The communties in and around Little Falls would have been impacted even more than they have already. It has turned out to be a good day!

[LMITOUT]

Jacobs buying back Little Falls boat factory

He's also re-acquiring the Larson, Seaswirl and FinCraft boat brands.

By LIZ FEDOR, Star Tribune

Last update: January 21, 2010 - 4:54 PM

The Minneapolis businessman said Thursday that he's reached a deal with a private equity firm to buy back his Little Falls boat factory complex and the Larson, Seaswirl and FinCraft boat brands.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Genmar Holdings, which owned those assets, filed for bankruptcy in June, and the Little Falls boat property and brands were auctioned off earlier this month.

But Jacobs said Thursday that he and a business partner negotiated a transaction to acquire several of the Genmar assets from Project Boat Holdings, an affiliate of California-based Platinum Equity.

The deal covers many assets, including the Triumph boat company in North Carolina and the Seaswirl boat factory in Oregon.

A Platinum Equity spokesman declined to comment on the deal, which is expected to close late next week.

[TR21HP]

Thats good news anyfish2, glad you will continue to work.

[marine_man]

Glad to hear it!

marine_man

[bassNspear]

Glad to hear it!

marine_man

dido