Info Aqualung Financial Troubles

[lowwall]

They were bought by Barings. Barings is an investment group that had a partial investment in AL for years anyway and decided to buy 100% control. AL isn't going anywhere....

It doesn't look like anything has changed since we last discussed this. They announced they were going to be acquired by Barings in June with the actual transaction to follow sometime in the fall. I believe "foreclosed on" is a more accurate description than bought as Barings was the company's largest debt holder. Even the press release uses the word "acquired" instead of "purchased".

The absence in the press releases of any commitment to inject fresh capital is notable. But maybe Barings will ease up on the extraction of cash which might be enough to give it a fighting chance. They do at least talk about giving them some time to see if they can turn it around.

BARINGS TO ACQUIRE AQUALUNG GROUP, THE WORLD LEADING MANUFACTURER OF EQUIPMENT FOR DIVING AND HIGH PERFORMANCE WATER SPORTS - DiveNewswire

Barings, one of the world’s leading investment managers, has entered into exclusive discussions to acquire 100% of the Aqualung Group, a global leader in manufacturing equipment for diving and highperformance water sports. All key stakeholders, including Barings as shareholder, as well as the...

www.divenewswire.com

 

[Thunder Struck]

If anything I would expect them to sell off the worthwhile brands for what they can and then shutter the rest. So while I don’t see Apeks going anywhere, I’d expect it to be under new ownership.

 

[Stingrayvilla]

An interesting blog by Darcy Kieran published in Scubanomics -

We reported back in April that dive gear manufacturer Aqualung couldn’t pay its debt after cash had been siphoned out of the company by its owner, Montagu Private Equity. We also reported that the principal Lender, Barings, had put forward a proposal to take control of Aqualung after a French judge ordered Aqualung to find a remedy to its operational and financial difficulties.

And the proposal went forward. Aqualung’s principal lender, Barings, is now scheduled to take control of the company. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the Fall of this year.

Barings is an investment management firm owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and operating under MassMutual Financial Group.

Therefore, the famous French company will now be American-owned.

However, we should not expect this ownership situation to remain as such for long. Barings’ interest in Aqualung is strictly financial. Barings wants to recuperate the money it loaned to Aqualung. So we should expect Barings to flip Aqualung at their first opportunity, which is what these types of investors do.

In the meantime, to try to help Barings recuperate as much of its money as possible, Aqualung has been under the leadership of Bruno Cercley since June 2022. Cercley has extensive experience in... the ski industry! Cercley hired Scott Rittscholf as president for the American operations in August last year. Rittscholf also comes with experience in the ski industry as well as biking.

So the big question remains: What kind of vision do these financial and ski executives have for the dive equipment industry besides cutting costs and increasing prices?

 

[runsongas]

considering how healthy the crowds are at ski resorts when the powder comes in and the fact that not everybody looks like an AARP member compared to the scuba crowd, I would say the ski industry has done a lot better about growth recently than the scuba industry.

 

[BoltSnap]

An interesting blog by Darcy Kieran published in Scubanomics -

We reported back in April that dive gear manufacturer Aqualung couldn’t pay its debt after cash had been siphoned out of the company by its owner, Montagu Private Equity. We also reported that the principal Lender, Barings, had put forward a proposal to take control of Aqualung after a French judge ordered Aqualung to find a remedy to its operational and financial difficulties.

And the proposal went forward. Aqualung’s principal lender, Barings, is now scheduled to take control of the company. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the Fall of this year.

Barings is an investment management firm owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and operating under MassMutual Financial Group.

Therefore, the famous French company will now be American-owned.

However, we should not expect this ownership situation to remain as such for long. Barings’ interest in Aqualung is strictly financial. Barings wants to recuperate the money it loaned to Aqualung. So we should expect Barings to flip Aqualung at their first opportunity, which is what these types of investors do.

In the meantime, to try to help Barings recuperate as much of its money as possible, Aqualung has been under the leadership of Bruno Cercley since June 2022. Cercley has extensive experience in... the ski industry! Cercley hired Scott Rittscholf as president for the American operations in August last year. Rittscholf also comes with experience in the ski industry as well as biking.

So the big question remains: What kind of vision do these financial and ski executives have for the dive equipment industry besides cutting costs and increasing prices?

Gut feeling, I don't feel good about the future of the AL group as we know it.

 

[lowwall]

An interesting blog by Darcy Kieran published in Scubanomics -

We reported back in April that dive gear manufacturer Aqualung couldn’t pay its debt after cash had been siphoned out of the company by its owner, Montagu Private Equity. We also reported that the principal Lender, Barings, had put forward a proposal to take control of Aqualung after a French judge ordered Aqualung to find a remedy to its operational and financial difficulties.

That article was posted on June 28, 2003 [Edit: 2023] following Aqualung's press release on the acquisition.

Kieran June 28 article

Press release: BARINGS TO ACQUIRE AQUALUNG GROUP, THE WORLD LEADING MANUFACTURER OF EQUIPMENT FOR DIVING AND HIGH PERFORMANCE WATER SPORTS - DiveNewswire

Nothing has changed since my post above on Oct. 4. Info - Aqualung Financial Troubles. The acquisition apparently has yet to be finalized.

 

[berndo]

That article was posted on June 28, 2003 following Aqualung's press release on the acquisition.

Time flies, **** me, it feels like this was earlier this year and not 20 years ago.

 

[lowwall]

Time flies, **** me, it feels like this was earlier this year and not 20 years ago.

Oops. Fixed.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

considering how healthy the crowds are at ski resorts when the powder comes in and the fact that not everybody looks like an AARP member compared to the scuba crowd, I would say the ski industry has done a lot better about growth recently than the scuba industry.

Maybe AMF is in the market for a new endeavor. Who would have thought bowling and Harleys would make such a great combination?

Oh wait. They didn't.

 

[Jcp2]

Maybe AMF is in the market for a new endeavor. Who would have thought bowling and Harleys would make such a great combination?

Oh wait. They didn't.

Time to pull out ye old AMF Swimaster second stages and dive them again.