Shearwater now majority owned by private equity firm

[SaltyWombat]

Shearwater Research Attracts New Majority Shareholder - Shearwater Research

BRS also owns these companies: Portfolio – Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. L.L.C.

 

[GF99/99]

I guess we can all hope that this does not mean mass production mass marketing causing there amazing customer service reputation to fall along with Canadian manufacturing being moved overseas.

Just looking at BRS's portfolio they are all over the place from pizza, and canned foods, to rock climbing shoes, pellet guns, and racing helmets.

 

[lowviz]

I'm sure that all will be fine. After all, Johnson Outdoors ate ScubaPro and we all know how well that worked.

My honest best wishes to Bruce and Lynn. It took a lot of their own personal hard work and unbelievable customer interactions to get Shearwater to where it is today. Time to hand it off, I suppose...

My best wishes to you both.

 

[happy-diver]

Praise the Lord it's not aqualung

 

[GF99/99]

Praise the Lord it's not aqualung

I guess your right, when you put it like this it could have been a lot worse. I can just imagine an AL computer rebranded with a Shearwater logo.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Anytime the founders give up majority control the transition is risky. I certainly wish the Partridges the very best. I’m sure they’ve realized a significant and well earned financial reward for their innovation & success. Good for them. But with that said I choose to remain skeptical of the new majority ownership. Hopefully they prove to be as committed to quality, innovation and customer service as the Partridges have been. The next two years will be very telling.

 

[hedonist222]

Profit = Revenue - Expenses

BRS is obviously aiming to increase profit.

The question is, how?
Reducing expenses? Or increasing sales?

From their perspective, ideally both.

From a customer perspective, cost cutting never benefitted us.

As Jim said, the next few years will be very telling.

 

[happy-diver]

We'll all be fine

Praise the Lord it's not scubapor

 

[michael-fisch]

Unfortunately, this is bad news, following a horrible recreational scuba year because of Covid.
Thankfully, I already have enough Predators and Petrel IIs to keep my rebreathers running.
I'd assume that if the Partridges had been able to wait another year to sell, they would have gotten significantly more for Shearwater.

Michael

 

[hilljo88]

I’m a fan of Shearwater products and customer service. Hoping BRS sees the value in maintaining high standards rather than diluting the brand.