West Marine sold to private equity firm

Boating retailer West Marine, which operates 237 stores across 38 states and Puerto Rico along with online shopping, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by L Catterton, the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with L Catterton in the next phase of growth for West Marine,” said Ken Seipel, CEO of West Marine, which was founded in 1968. “The L Catterton team brings invaluable consumer, brand building and digital expansion expertise to help us accelerate our growth plans.

“In partnership, we look forward to enhancing our digital capabilities and elevating our consumer experience to not only provide the broadest product offering in the industry, but to deliver the most comprehensive and rewarding consumer experience no matter where or how our boaters choose to engage with us. We look forward to our new partnership with L Catterton.”

It was reported in June 2017 that West Marine and Monomoy Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity fund, had executed a definitive merger agreement under which a wholly owned affiliate of Monomoy would acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of West Marine at $12.97 per share in cash, which represents a total equity value of $338 million. This price represents a premium of 32% over the 30-day average performance of West Marine’s stock price reported on NASDAQ.

“The U.S. marine aftermarket industry is a fundamentally attractive category benefiting from favorable consumer tailwinds including long-term growth in boating usage for leisure and time spent with family, higher focus on outdoor lifestyle activities including water sports and fishing, and the rise of boat sharing and clubs bringing more people into the category,” said Matt Lischick, Partner at L Catterton.

“We expect the aftermarket to continue its consistent secular growth based on the growing installed boat base and rising boating participation. West Marine stands out as the front-runner in the category and we look forward to partnering with Ken and his proven leadership team to further build the Company’s authority as the go-to, consumer-centric marine aftermarket player.”

Details: https://www.westmarine.com/PressRoom/PR20210414