Info Aqualung Financial Troubles

[Green Frog]

What do you think will happen with their Military/Commercial division? I wonder if that will be separated out and sold off to someone who can continue the contract. That has to be a massive contract and not one the US government would be happy about losing.

Hi Eric! I’ve said it before, in a best case scenario, the Military/Commercial division could be spun off, then their production expanded to make it available to the masses. It’s been shown over and over that “New & Improved” frequently isn’t and there seems to be a a large enough segment of us in the game to provide supplemental sales to those they make to the big boys of Conshelf regulators with metal 1085 seconds. This would satisfy M/C demand and desire of us civilians as well.

it’s a truism in life that one way to ensure success is to do just one thing and do it very well. This seems like a perfect situation to prove this rule. Neither the M/C demand nor the niche group of us old schoolers would be huge, but together the niche groups should be sizable enough to support a healthy little manufacturing company. If they produce a more diverse line of related dive equipment, so much the better.

JMHO, YMMV!

 

[lowwall]

I don’t know if you know Pasadena Jon or not?
But he mentioned that when he was at DEMA he talked to the owner of Whites Dry Suits and he said he got his company back from AL for pennies on the dollar.
Maybe something like that will happen with Apeks?
What do you think will happen with their Military/Commercial division? I wonder if that will be separated out and sold off to someone who can continue the contract. That has to be a massive contract and not one the US government would be happy about losing.

I expect the first shoe will drop sooner rather than later.

Barings was their largest creditor. IMO, they weren't going to take ownership without a clear path to recouping a bigger chunk of what they were owed than if they just let it go to liquidation. In this game that usually means selling off the most valuable bits. Apeks? The second most common option is setting up for a quick listing or sale by dramatically improving the short term financials - at the expense of long term viability - by firing everyone possible and selling whatever inventory you have cheap enough to clear it.

The least common option is what Barings is claiming they are going to do. Invest time and money in the company in the hopes of reaping future profits. That may happen eventually, but probably starting from a much smaller company and under different ownership.

 

[Still Kicking]

The second most common option is setting up for a quick re-listing or sale by dramatically improving the short term financials ... selling whatever inventory you have cheap enough to clear it.

This is already underway. I can't speak to any headcount reductions though.

 

[Endler's]

'Suspect that even if Baring's bankrupted the SCUBA companies, a third party like scubagaskets.com, would step in to make service kits for the most popular regulators.

 

[scubadada]

I wonder about Pelagic Pressure Systems and the MH8A transmitter.

 

[BoltSnap]

I wonder about Pelagic Pressure Systems and the MH8A transmitter.

Perhaps Huish would step in and buy PPS and possibly the Apeks line. BUT, I don't know anything!!

 

[lowwall]

Perhaps Huish would step in and buy PPS and possibly the Apeks line. BUT, I don't know anything!!

It makes a lot of sense on the surface. Zeagle has a huge presence in the US public safety diving sector, especially for BCDs. It seems like an obvious path to cross sell Apeks regs to these customers and Zeagle gear to Apeks' international military and public safety customers.

 

[Kendall Raine]

I don’t know if you know Pasadena Jon or not?
But he mentioned that when he was at DEMA he talked to the owner of Whites Dry Suits and he said he got his company back from AL for pennies on the dollar.
Maybe something like that will happen with Apeks?
What do you think will happen with their Military/Commercial division? I wonder if that will be separated out and sold off to someone who can continue the contract. That has to be a massive contract and not one the US government would be happy about losing.

All this is just speculation on my part, but selling off Apeks (or other pieces) is a likely strategy consideration for Barings. I don't know enough about the businesses (profits/profitability, how integrated the operations) but even if previous consolidation efforts (at AL) mean Apeks couldn't stand up outside the mothership, another strategic could perhaps make that happen-maybe just take the regulator piece of Apeks. Not sure if Huish would want a fourth regulator brand, however. Maybe at the right price...

As for the USG contract, it can't be more than a rounding error in the DoD procuremnt budget and easy to replace. Those contracts are generally pretty one sided with outs for change of control and strict (adverse) performance sanctions.

 

[Kendall Raine]

The second most common option is setting up for a quick re-listing

What re-listing? Air Liquide sold them to Montegu in 2016. Aqua Lung was never public.

 

[lowwall]

What re-listing? Air Liquide sold them to Montegu in 2016. Aqua Lung was never public.

Ok. I changed to "listing".