Brunswick acquires Attwood Corporation for US$47.9 million

By IBI Magazine / Michael Verdon

Brunswick Corporation announced today that it had acquired the marine product business of Attwood Corporation for about US$47.9 million in cash.

Attwood, with annual sales of about US$56 million, will be part of the Brunswick Boat Group's Parts and Accessories Business. "Participating in the boat parts and accessories (P&A) segment achieves a number of strategic objectives," said Brunswick Chair George Buckley. "It facilitates our efforts to integrate boat and engine design and engineering. It also enables us to offer a higher level of service to our dealers. In addition, it provides Brunswick a chance to increase sales as well as an attractive profit opportunity for Brunswick and our dealers, as aftermarket P&A traditionally offers higher margins."

Dustan McCoy, president of the Brunswick Boat Group, said that, along with the acquisition of Land N Sea, "Attwood is a key element in our goal of building a dedicated boat P&A business." He added that the strategy is "to focus on delivering to Attwood customers'dealers and independent repair shops, warehouse distributors, retailers and original equipment manufacturer--superior parts and service support." He also said that Attwood's in-house design team would allow "development of proprietary P&A for our Brunswick boat brands and dealers."

(2 September 2003)