Ebbtide Boats sold to Chinese investment company
Photo Credit: EbbtideBoats.com
July 20, 2012
Filed under Features, Top Stories
Ebbtide Boats has been sold to a privately held Chinese investment company, 321 Capital Partners announced on Thursday.
321 Capital Partners, which facilitated the sale announced a then-unnamed boat manufacturer’s search for acquisition candidates in January, with a few clues as to the identity of the manufacturer.
Ebbtide Boats manufacture 18- to 28-foot sport and recreational boats out of its 150,000 square-foot facility in White Bluff, Tenn., where they manufacture cuddy cabin, bowrider and deck boat models.
President and former Ebbtide owner Tommy Trabue said in a statement that selling the company was bittersweet, but recognized that the time had come to transition to a different position, stating that he was looking forward to continuing to work with the company as the future unfolds.
“Finding the right person to pass our legacy on to was extremely important to me. The new owner of Ebbtide is a Chinese businessman and entrepreneur that plans to build our brand name here in the U.S. and Canada as well as developing Ebbtide into a global brand,” Trabue said in a release. “He will strengthen the company financially and provide leadership and vision to build the company for the future. He offers an excellent opportunity for all of our employees to grow in his international organization both here and China.”
George Gong, spokesmen and president of U.S. operations for the privately held company that acquired Ebbtide, said that his company will be investing more money into improving the Tennessee facility following the acquisition, and produce more boats to meet customer requirements.
“Furthermore, we would like to promote Ebbtide as a worldwide brand supported by the manufacturing facilities in the United States and China,” Gong said in the release. “We will recruit more engineers, designers, employees to produce high quality, modern and advantaged boats.”
Ebbtide Boats has been presented with 23 awards, including Highest Customer Satisfaction awards and seven Boat of the Year awards.
oh goodie now we have
commietide boats
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I suspect that public reaction will mean fewer and fewer buyers…
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When my dad and I went in the boat business in 1970 near Dayton, Ohio, our very first new boat line was Ebbtide. At that time they had 3 or 4 models, with the largest being a 15 foot bowrider. We sold Ebbtide until we liquidated in 1998. By that time they had built the line up to include great bass boats, and fabulous runabouts. All through these years, Tommy Trabue was the president of Ebbtide. I know this was a difficult decision on his part, and I wish him only the best. He is one of the true gentlemen left in the boat business.
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Initially, my gut tells me this is a no-win for the brand and that the implications of an Asian investment/owner taking over a US based boat brand and being successful have yet to be seen- Infusing cash will certainly help…so will improving the dilapidated facilities in Tenn – as the report suggests. Certainly, they will economize Chinese made parts for the build.
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FIrst step is buy the whole company, production line, all necessary data for build
the same product… next step is moving the product line to China and make the same brand in China, last is close the US factory get all worker out …..
This is the true….
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