Nimbus acquires Brunswick's shares in Bella Boats
Brunswick Group, the leading U.S. yacht manufacturer, announced that it has reached an agreement with Sweden's Nimbus Boats to sell its stake in Finnish shipyard Bella Boats. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close before the end of 2018. The Bella Boats Group, which includes the Bella, Flipper, Falcon and Aquador powerboat brands, will then return to full European ownership.
Brunswick Disengagement
The operation can be seen as a continuation of Brunswick's refocusing on the American market and its flagship brands. The group had acquired a minority stake in Bella Boats through the engine manufacturer Mercury Marine in 2003. Founder Raimo Sonninen, who was still managing the company, will become an advisor in the future organization.
Synergies between Bella and Nimbus
The two Scandinavian groups Bella Boats and Nimbus foresee many synergies. Together they have 6 brands, adding Nimbus and Paragon Yachts to those acquired. The alliance will cover a wide range of uses, with open hulls for recreational fishing or ski-nautical use, weekenders, commuters and cutters. " This is a great opportunity for Bella and Nimbus to join forces and form a very strong portfolio of boats [...], but also allows us to take advantage of synergies between the different brands. "says Jan-Erik Lindström, CEO of Nimbus.
The interest for the network is confirmed by Tolga Pamir, importer of Bella Boats in France with his company Ponton Marine. " This will pay off in terms of image. It is qualitative because Nimbus has a good image of quality. It doesn't change anything for the moment in the functioning of the distribution and the production. This will become clearer after the meeting that is planned with the whole network at the Boot in Dusseldorf and in Helsinki. "
