Lambert calls Bénéteau acquisition a ‘perfect fit’

Back in June, Bénéteau acquired Rec Boat Holdings family of brands in a move that brought Roch Lambert’s business out of the private equity limbo that began in 2010.

Lambert says the process has gone very well so far.

“It’s been absolutely great, the transition has been relatively smooth. Obviously there’s a lot of work to be done, but I’ve spent quite a bit of time in France trying to make sure we focus on the right things, building the synergies we’ve been talking about and so far I’ve been extremely pleased,” said Lambert. “The synergies are coming in at least as strong as we anticipated and in some cases we have very pleasant surprises.”

He said tapping into their vast dealer network overseas was one of the biggest benefits, initially, but the number of dealers excited about the Four Winns, Glastron, Wellcraft and Scarab brands was one of those surprises.

“I was anticipating that we’d have 30, 40, 50 dealers interested, we have over 100 right now,” said Lambert. “We had about 50 or 60 dealers that were selling some of our brands outside of North America, they have 440 dealers outside of North America. So just having a chance to present to their dealer network, and of the 440 dealers, we have over 100 that want our brands. That’s instant results from pure synergy.”

He said he never expected the kind of response European dealers gave.

“They’re very excited. I wasn’t off the stage at their dealer meeting and people were lined up to talk to me about taking on some of our brands,” said Lambert.

Rec Boat Holdings will essentially remain on it’s own with a few pieces of the new company infrastructure joining together.

“We report directly to the CEO in France, and they’re very hands-off. We have a mandate and know what we need to chase,” said Lambert. “They essentially opened the doors for their network so we can talk to those guys, but they’re not doing the work for us – it’s our job.”

“We essentially keep an autonomous status within the company, so we’ve combined a couple of things. For instance, we’re working on signing a lot of their European dealers to take on our brands. That’s proving to be extremely successful so far,” said Lambert, adding that they’ve made a new position to help Bénéteau in the local market. “Our team here is now going to be in charge of distributing their outboard powered brands to the North American market. So we’ve appointed somebody focusing on that network and building that business for us.”

Employees at Rec Boat Holdings gave a standing ovation when the acquisition was announced, ending their time in private equity.

“Everybody is excited. For one thing, we were under private equity for almost four and a half years. We were extremely lucky to have a partner that was just absolutely phenomenal for the business. They allowed us to invest and do the right things not only for the short term but also for the long term of the business,” said Lambert.

Despite how good the Platinum Group was to the business, it means no more wondering what the future holds.

“Parting ways with the Platinum Group was a sad day frankly,” said Lambert. “But you know, we’re done talking about being for sale. We’re done talking about what the future holds for RBH, well now RBH is part of the oldest boat builder and manufacturer still standing I think.”

He said the history and the passion at Bénéteau is astounding.

“They are 130 years old, which itself is very amazing. The other thing that amazes me the most frankly is that it’s in the hands of only the third generation. So on average, each generation has managed the business for 45 years. That is amazing,” said Lambert. “It’s a level of passion and love for the business that I have never seen. Very, very capable, very smart people to be around. So far we’re having a blast.”

Bénéteau’s long, long history in the industry positions Rec Boat Holdings to relax a little about their future as long as they keep performing as they have been.

“We know five years, 20 years, 25 years, 50 years from now – assuming the business survives – we’re still going to be building boats because that’s what they do. And that’s reassuring for our team, and I would hope it’s also reassuring for our network,” said Lambert.

Bénéteau is also getting better access to the North American powerboat market – another of those instant synergies and something the maker of Gran Turismo, Swift Trawler and Barracuda brands has been working toward for years.

“They tapped into our network of about 250 dealers. We now have a family of brands that are available for them to represent in North America, so all of that will increase volume on their side and create more awareness for their brands,” said Lambert. “It’s an instant way to penetrate the market because they acquired a network along with a management team and manufacturing facilities with capabilities and capacity for down the road.”

The acquisition should be good news for dealers carrying the Rec Boat Holdings brands who had questions about where the company was going while under private equity.

“I think history has proven that stability on the manufacturer side is very important in this industry. It just makes dealers more comfortable to be doing business with us,” said Lambert. “I couldn’t think of a better, stronger outcome for our network. It’s an absolutely perfect fit.“