fajaonzi????

[mattyboy]

now what???http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2009/09/29/news/doc4ac1410a6edb1790244964.txt


the 22 classic will get a beek and a platform and now be called a 25 footer ;)

[Ghost]

For marketing purposes, I fear they would drop the Baja name and go with Fonzi. The new logo might end up as a lion and a dolphin jumping a shark... :rolleyes:

[The Hedgehog]

For marketing purposes, I fear they would drop the Baja name and go with Fonzi. The new logo might end up as a lion and a dolphin jumping a shark... :rolleyes:

Now that is FUNNY:nilly:.

Fonzi! Lol

[The Hedgehog]

I could get a mural painted on the back of my truck with an American flag fading into the Lion and Shark logo. It would have Don looking down on Reggie. Reggie would be holding the flag sitting on a 22 stretched into a 25 with a beak, some steps and a swim platform while riding off into the sunset.....my mind is reeling at the possibilities!:eek::eek:

[zelatore]

Glad to know Donzi and ProLine are 'fledgling' boat companies.

[handfulz28]

Makes ya wonder just how "avid" a boater the group really is...

I never asked for their names, but I was told they didn't have industry experience...they just wanted to own a boat company. I guess owning a boat or two could make someone..."avid."

FWIW, at least someone is out there rolling up boat builders and not letting them completely rot away. Not sure about Pro Line, but Donzi and Fountain are two major brands to have control over.

[BUIZILLA]

first, Hustler walks because all debts weren't divulged...

then, I find it funny Reggie doesn't trust Oxford.... :confused:

maybe, they don't trust him either... :bonk:

[Ghost]

I never asked for their names, but I was told they didn't have industry experience...they just wanted to own a boat company. I guess owning a boat or two could make someone..."avid."

Ty: What's wrong with lumber? I own two lumber yards.

Danny: I notice you don't spend much time there.

Ty: I'm not sure where they are.

[LKSD]

I find it interesting that there is little to no info on "Liberty". I did find a little when searching at one point that "liberty" that was based out of the area I was told about specialized in restructuring & bankruptcy alternatives.. :shocking: I wonder if it is the same "liberty" & maybe this is why the owners/investors seem to be tight lipped & somewhat elusive?? Also not much new has been going on or things getting built than before. Just some thoughts.. Yes the economy is still obviously screwy & boat sales is still obviously less than stellar making it slow for most builders yet, but It will be interesting to see where all of this goes. :boggled: J

[JustMercMe]

Ty: What's wrong with lumber? I own two lumber yards.

Danny: I notice you don't spend much time there.

Ty: I'm not sure where they are.



Classic!....

[olredalert]

-----Actually Handfulz28, Proline would probably be the cash cow when and if a turnaround occurs in the boating industry. Proline may not have the excitment quotient of DONZI, but they build very good, usable CCs and thats where the growth will be in sales, not the boats we all drool over. I believe Prolines cash flow may be what kept the doors open at DONZI for longer than they probably should have been. As far as Liberty...I dont have a clue!!!.......Mr.Bill

[handfulz28]

Thanks Mr. Bill. Didn't mean to imply anything negative about Proline, just had no idea of its brand strength. And yes, cash cows absolutely have their place in the barn. :D

[fasttrucker]

Will donzi and pro-line boats, be made in sarasota FLA. or will they be made in NC. at reggies factory?I know with baja,s they closed the OH. factory and moved to NC.:confused:

[BUIZILLA]

i'd bet, if Liberty was smart, they would sell off the Classic line.... :popcorn:

[silverghost]

I find it hard to believe that any investor group in their right minds would buy Fountain ;given the 19.6+$$$ millions in secured & unsecured debts owed.
Realistically I believe Fountain will be liquidated by the bankruptsy court and the judge.
It is really the Fountain trademarked name and their boat designs & hull & deck molds that have the most real value here. Also the Factory Real Estate on 65 acres & buildings.
Any performance boater knows the Fountain name & the trademark look of their beaked bow !
The fountain boat has estabished a high-profie name in the performance boat market. This is true weather you like them, or Reggie, or not!
Chapter 11 reorganization has not worked , nor has any real buyer stepped up to the plate.
Given the extent of debts owed and our present USA economic situation I doubt any real buyers will come foreward! Possibly for only 20 cents on the dollar!
The banks & creditors may be forced to cut their losses!
I suspect that there are bankruptsy auction buyers waiting in the wings to snap-up the trademark Fountain name & it's boat molds and designs.
Fountain as we know it, and Reggie will only be a memory.
Reggie may be hired back by some builder as a high-profile figurehead to wave the company Flag & name at boatshows & events.BUT~ Given the large hole he has dug I doubt he will have any real management role in any possible future operations!
The 65 acre factory complex will most likely be sold off for real estate development.
I suspect any investor would just be selling off anything that they think they can make some fast money on!
Picking the bones so to speak at a reatly discounted rate!
Possibly they are in the liquidation business ?
They would be bargin hunters after a fast buck!
They do not want to be in the boat building business I suspect!
These are just my gut feelings on the subject.
I could be wrong~ But I doubt it.
(The borrow a phrase from Charles Barkley)
Fountain as we know it may only have weeks or days to live!
The creditors, court, and finally the judge will have the final word here!
Sadly many good people will be hurt badly here; many jobs lost, investor & bank money lost, and suppliers burned for offering parts etc on credit!
Very Sad Story All Around Indeed!

Brad Hunter

[The Hedgehog]

I find it hard to believe that any investor group in their right minds would buy Fountain ;given the millions in debt owed.
Realistically I believe Fountain will be liquidated by the bankruptsy court and judge.
It really the Fountain name and their boat designs & hull & deck molds that have the most real value here.
Any performance boater knows the Fountain name & the trademark look of their beaked bow !
The fountain boat has estabished a high-profie name in the performance boat market. This is true weather you like them, or Reggie, or not!
I suspect that there are buyers waiting in the wings to snap-up the trademark Fountain name & it's boat molds and designs.
Fountain as we know it, and Reggie will only be a memory.
Reggie may be hired back by some builder as a high-profile figurehead to wave the company name at boatshows & events. I doubt he will have any real management role in any possible future operations!
The 65 acre factory complex will most likely be sold off for development.
These are just my gut feelings on the subject.
Fountain as we know it may only have weeks or days to live!
The creditors, court, and finally the judge will have the final word here!

They are insolvent. More than likely the investment company got a deal by buying the bank debt in a discounted format. They probably did so in an asset based lending format and understand how to collect on their collateral. That will probably eliminate the hard assets of the company. The rest is goodwill (ie the Fountain name and maybe some proprietary processes). That is probably being marketed to satisfy the unsecured creditors. At this point the combination of the Fountain name and the molds are probably worth more together than split. That is why it is being marketed in such a manner. If a good buyer is not found, it may be split up and may go away for the most part.

No it is probably a bad investment unless someone just happens to need a boat factory and building equipment. I heard that Hustler took a stab at it but could not make the numbers work. My guess is that other boat builders will have the same issue.

[joseph m. hahnl]

For marketing purposes, I fear they would drop the Baja name and go with Fonzi. The new logo might end up as a lion and a dolphin jumping a shark... :rolleyes:


You mean Fonzie jumps the shark:thumbsup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE

[Ghost]

You mean Fonzie jumps the shark:thumbsup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE

LOL, exactly! I can't believe I hadn't thought to look on Youtube....

[justleft]

That property must be worth a $ or so. 65 acres on the water.

Sell the names, molds, equipment etc. and put in a golf/marine development.

Call it Fountain Crest. Homes starting at $ 1.7 mil

[BUIZILLA]

nahhhhhhh

it'll be called Reggie's Roost

or Reggie's Landing

or Reggie's Last Stand

or something like that...

[joseph m. hahnl]

you guys lost me:confused:

the article says absolutely nothing about Fountain making Donzi's or any other boat . All it said was that the same company "Liberty"
bought the majority shares of all three boat companies. also that Oxford
had bought the bank note for the debt that Fountain had.With Liberty buying out the majority shares, and having capitol, they would be in a position to pay the debt off. Which means Oxford would not be able to liquidate the company to pay the debt.Further more it appears that Liberty is not in the business of building boats but are an investment company. They may possibly leave the active boards of each company. As each company become profitable they will most likely sell the shares off at a profit . The purpose of the buy outs is to grow each company, as that the shares become profitable and sell them, not sell boats.

Just like Don did he didn't sell boats he sold boat companies:kingme:

any way that's what I gathered from the article:wink:

[The Hedgehog]

you guys lost me:confused:

the article says absolutely nothing about Fountain making Donzi's or any other boat . All it said was that the same company "Liberty"
bought the majority shares of all three boat companies. also that Oxford
had bought the bank note for the debt that Fountain had.With Liberty buying out the majority shares, and having capitol, they would be in a position to pay the debt off. Which means Oxford would not be able to liquidate the company to pay the debt.Further more it appears that Liberty is not in the business of building boats but are an investment company. They may possibly leave the active boards of each company. As each company become profitable they will most likely sell the shares off at a profit . The purpose of the buy outs is to grow each company, as that the shares become profitable and sell them, not sell boats.

Just like Don did he didn't sell boats he sold boat companies:kingme:

any way that's what I gathered from the article:wink:

Just because you own all the shares, it does not mean that you are in the position to pay off all debts. The prior shareholders could not (or would not) and that is why they are insolvent.

The purpose of buyouts is not always to create a stronger company.

You also have to consider that all of this is subject to what will happen if the bankruptcy goes through. That means that there is a lookback period and nobody gets preferential treatment.

One thing that I do know from dealing with a good bit of troubled debt restructuring is that we know very little from the newspaper article. There are tons of terms and conditions of such a deal. It is a good bit more complicated than that.

[Mr X]

Here is my take on it. (and a few others here)
Step 1. Liberty acquires Fountain at the 11th hour. (Probably has already done so) :wink:
Step 2. Then moves Donzi to the Fountain factory in NC.

[Greg Guimond]

that would be prime for a little private equity spin off ............

[mattyboy]

or this could be a dr evil plot by skip braver to take over the world ;)

[Carl C]

It's getting ugly on OSO:eek:: (especially toward the end)

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-boating-discussion/216936-purchasing-fountain-powerboats.html

[The Hedgehog]

It's getting ugly on OSO:eek:: (especially toward the end)

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-boating-discussion/216936-purchasing-fountain-powerboats.html

Now that is an armchair quarterback festival!

Everything from self proclaimed liquidation experts to personal attacks on Reggie.

I am not a Reggie fan but you can't argue with what he has brought to the industry. He has built some solid and fast hulls.

I could throw out a few plausible scenarios but time will tell. I actually hope that they make it. I don't revel in anyone's failure. There are all sorts of boat owners out there and that requires all sorts of boats. I would like to see Donzi sell more boats but am glad that everyone does not own one!

[Mr X]

This was in "trade only" courtesy of my friend "Al"

A hearing is set for Monday morning on Fountain Powerboats' motion asking to postpone the scheduled sale of its assets, though a California-based investment group is opposing that motion.

See Related Articles
•Fountain working to retain assets in Chapter 11
•Deadline is set for Fountain bidders
•Reggie Fountain: buoyant in bankruptcy
•Documents detail Fountain's assets
•Fountain files Chapter 11
An auction had been scheduled to take place next week.

Fountain filed Aug. 24 for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In its filing the company asked the court for permission to sell "substantially all" of its tangible and intangible assets.

However, in court documents filed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, Fountain says that on Sept. 17, creditor Regions Bank sold its note to FB Investments LLC. FB Investments is a corporation formed by the principals of The Oxford Investment Group for the purpose of acquiring the Regions Bank note, according to Selwyn Isakow, chairman of The Oxford Investment Group.

FB Investments is interested in acquiring Fountain's assets, according to court documents, saying FB intends to "credit bid the Region Bank indebtedness at the auction; however, one effect of the assignment of the Regions Bank indebtedness to a potential bidder has been to chill the bidding process and discourage other potential bidders."

Fountain reported in the last few days that the company received an alternative proposal from Liberty Associates in which Liberty would provide financing that would allow Fountain to continue operations and fund a proposed agreed plan of reorganization. Liberty, as part of the deal, would keep Reggie Fountain on board as president of the company.

"The debtors believe that this alternative proposal from Liberty would appear to offer other creditors in this proceeding at least some opportunity to receive a distribution on allowed claims and thus may be in the best interest of the debtors' estate as compared to the proposed sale," Fountain said in court documents.

FB Investments, however, filed papers Thursday asking the court to reject Fountain's motion to postpone the auction, calling it a last attempt of "founder Reggie Fountain to try and retain control of the company he stewarded into insolvency."

"On Sept. 28, 2009, Reggie Fountain states he did not want to work with FB Investments if it purchased the company; two days later, debtors seek to abort the sale for the 'best interests of the creditors,' " FB noted in court documents.

FB also asserts Fountain has not provided a basis for canceling the sale process and that the benefits to canceling are "highly speculative and extremely unlikely to occur; the harm to FB Investments is real and substantial."

"[The] bare bones, highly unusual ex parte motion seems to all appearances to have been triggered by Reggie Fountain's attempts to secure his own personal advancement, without a credible chance of benefitting the creditors," FB said in court papers.

In related news, a Committee of Unsecured Creditors was appointed. Representatives from Composites One, Textron Financial Corp., Speed Boats of Texas (dba Legend Marine Group), and Dr. Jon C. Fisher were named to the committee.

— Beth Rosenberg

b.rosenberg@tradeonlytoday.com

[mike o]

This was in "trade only" courtesy of my friend "Al"

A hearing is set for Monday morning on Fountain Powerboats' motion asking to postpone the scheduled sale of its assets, though a California-based investment group is opposing that motion.

See Related Articles
•Fountain working to retain assets in Chapter 11
•Deadline is set for Fountain bidders
•Reggie Fountain: buoyant in bankruptcy
•Documents detail Fountain's assets
•Fountain files Chapter 11
An auction had been scheduled to take place next week.

Fountain filed Aug. 24 for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In its filing the company asked the court for permission to sell "substantially all" of its tangible and intangible assets.

However, in court documents filed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, Fountain says that on Sept. 17, creditor Regions Bank sold its note to FB Investments LLC. FB Investments is a corporation formed by the principals of The Oxford Investment Group for the purpose of acquiring the Regions Bank note, according to Selwyn Isakow, chairman of The Oxford Investment Group.

FB Investments is interested in acquiring Fountain's assets, according to court documents, saying FB intends to "credit bid the Region Bank indebtedness at the auction; however, one effect of the assignment of the Regions Bank indebtedness to a potential bidder has been to chill the bidding process and discourage other potential bidders."

Fountain reported in the last few days that the company received an alternative proposal from Liberty Associates in which Liberty would provide financing that would allow Fountain to continue operations and fund a proposed agreed plan of reorganization. Liberty, as part of the deal, would keep Reggie Fountain on board as president of the company.

"The debtors believe that this alternative proposal from Liberty would appear to offer other creditors in this proceeding at least some opportunity to receive a distribution on allowed claims and thus may be in the best interest of the debtors' estate as compared to the proposed sale," Fountain said in court documents.

FB Investments, however, filed papers Thursday asking the court to reject Fountain's motion to postpone the auction, calling it a last attempt of "founder Reggie Fountain to try and retain control of the company he stewarded into insolvency."

"On Sept. 28, 2009, Reggie Fountain states he did not want to work with FB Investments if it purchased the company; two days later, debtors seek to abort the sale for the 'best interests of the creditors,' " FB noted in court documents.

FB also asserts Fountain has not provided a basis for canceling the sale process and that the benefits to canceling are "highly speculative and extremely unlikely to occur; the harm to FB Investments is real and substantial."

"[The] bare bones, highly unusual ex parte motion seems to all appearances to have been triggered by Reggie Fountain's attempts to secure his own personal advancement, without a credible chance of benefitting the creditors," FB said in court papers.

In related news, a Committee of Unsecured Creditors was appointed. Representatives from Composites One, Textron Financial Corp., Speed Boats of Texas (dba Legend Marine Group), and Dr. Jon C. Fisher were named to the committee.

— Beth Rosenberg

b.rosenberg@tradeonlytoday.comI buy alot of my stuff from composites one, the boat builders super store. They are the national composites mega supplier, that bought up all the little guys over the last 10-15 yrs. There receivables must be unbelievable with all this going on as unsecured creditors with all this going on everywhere.

[Mr X]

Liberty did get Fountain today.
Wonder whats next....:wink:
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/63833762.html

[silverghost]

Liberty did get Fountain today.
Wonder whats next....:wink:
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/63833762.html

I hate to say it~
BUT I think the big Liquidation Auction is comming soon !
You know what they say~
The sum of the parts is worth more than the whole !
Think Mikael Douglass as Gordon Gecko here !

[Mr X]

My bet would be not.
But I would bet Donzi moves to NC...

[fasttrucker]

wow 19 million for 6.7 mill. what a deal?

[LKSD]

I saw some of this stuff coming, I was told some inside things & I was also told some here say.

I didnt want to say all that I heard because Im sure I didn't know every specific about these take overs &
in regards to the hear say stuff, I dont want to be the one to spread or start possibly incorrect rumors that can be damaging to anyone.

One humorous thing that I will throw out there though is this:

Is this the new face of the company?? lol... :D (not that I dont like Fountain, but with all the goofy names & stuff that have been tossed out there, I thought this fit the goofy thoughts out there).

PS: All of the problems for the companies lately are stressfull to say the least for everyone.. I dont like seeing any of these companies having to go thru this stuff.. But a little humor is needed in these stressful times...

[mattyboy]

29k a month that's some nut to come up with every month before any overhead

[silverghost]

Reggie Now Running Donzi & Fountain?
Does this mean that all us Donzi owners will have to start wearing heavy gold chains?

[BUIZILLA]

29k a month is a 52.7 year payout schedule... :nilly:

[Shanghied Again]

Liberty is an investment company. They will look to restructure the companies to make money in the future. With the economy being the demise of the boating industry as we know it there will be more manafactures heading for disaster this coming year, but any company that can hold on for another year will most likely make it.
As far as Donzi being part of Fountain doubt it.
I heard some plans for Donzi and yes they will be cutting a lot of boat lines out, but not the classics. I can't say more then that.
Fountain. This will be a a weight and see.. To early to tell.