who owns Johnson evienrude now?

[honda cat]

I have heard and read all sorts of diferent things from bombardiere family owning a 15% to 65% and the parent company the ownes STAPLES discount stores to own 50% . does any one have the real numbers ? sounds like a real mess and just when things seem to be geting better .

 

[JB]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

As I understand it, Honda cat, Johnson/Evinrude are owned by a consortium with the Bombardier Family owning the majority of the shares.<br /><br />I have no concerns about the future or quality of their products.

 

[honda cat]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

some of the trade papers "trade only" have the bombardiere family owning as little as 15% with no one having a real contoling interest . This concers me and i am just looking for the facts and not openions does any one have the facts? I am as pro Omc as any one my family used to own a small dealership for years and all the wishfull thinking is good but I was hoping someone has the facts . I hope the controling interest does not belong to a company that ownes a chain of discount stores (Staples) as it has been stated in some of these papers. This is like a flash back of when green way partners group owned then with Mr Sorrows at the head of the table they had no real marine backround and we all know what happened that time .

 

[butlp]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

All I could find on the internet: Came from Sportsfish Australia dated 01-09-03<br /><br />"Three groups to share ownership<br /><br />Through the agreement, the Bombardier family will hold 35 percent of the new corporation, while Bain Capital will hold 50 percent and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec will hold the remaining 15 percent.<br /><br />The Bombardier family includes the corporation's current chairman, Laurent Beaudoin, and his son, Pierre, who headed the recreational products division during the late 1990s and now is the head of Bombardier Aerospace.<br /><br />The decision to sell to the Bombardier family was made by an independent committee. Members of the family abstained from participating in board meetings when the transaction was considered and did not vote on whether to approve of the deal.<br /><br />Details of the family's financing package were not immediately available. There are market analysts in Canada who believed the family would need to borrow too heavily in order to pay for the recreational products division, which would place a financial burden on its operations under the family's ownership."

 

[seahorse5]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

For the whole story, go to:<br /><br /> http://www.evinrude.com/pdf/090403.pdf

 

[DJ]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

honda cat,<br /><br />I also have no concerns about the future of J/E.<br /><br />15% ownership may be somewhat misleading. "Control" is determined by the type of stock owned, not the quantity.

 

[sloopy]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

If they owned 51% it would be a different story.

 

[shuff]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

I may be wrong, but I think I read sometime back that The family is a big part of Bain capital.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

Somewhere in the myriad of news releases, there was info that stated that the Bombardier family had around 60% of the voting rights, even though their ownership shares were less.

 

[steam_mill]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

My first boat had a 25 year old J/E on it. Ran like a charm. Spoke to a lot of people, this is the line I got on J/E versus Merc:<br /><br />J/E: Less power, better longevity<br /><br />Mercury: More power, less longevity<br /><br />So when I was contemplating my new boat purchase, I wanted a J/E again.<br /><br />I talked to a variety of dealers. My conclusion was that many J/E dealers were giving up J/E and selling Mercs.<br /><br />Why: Afraid of where J/E was going.<br /><br />When looking for my new boat, I didn't see any packages that had a J/E product included with the boat. Everything was Merc (or Yammie or Honda).<br /><br />I do think that J/E is a great product. If dealers are giving them up, where will you be able to get service?<br /><br />Remember I'm in Canada. Toronto actually. Marine retail is very limited here. I can't even buy Sea Foam anywhere.<br /><br />This is just my opinion. Based on the trend, I would not buy a new J/E today. Go for a product that we know will be here. <br /><br />Still have my 49 year old 7.5 Fleetwin though....<br /><br />Tx.<br /><br />Joe

 

[roscoe]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

Steam_Mill, I wonder when you were talking to these dealers?<br /><br />Was it before OMC went bankrupt?<br />Or just after Bombardier bought them?<br /><br />From what I have heard, smaller dealers were "switching?" because they didn't like the new requirements that Bombardier was imposing on them. The biggest being, that they upgrade their technical skills and repair facilities. Many of the dealers "chose" to sell other brands, rather than invest money in the dealership.<br /><br />In other words, Bombardier wanted to weed out the "dealers" that could not support the new high tech engines.

 

[honda cat]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

If bombardier was weeding out little mom and pop dealers they pulled a bunch of flowers out with the weeds thats for sure at least here in the chicago area i am begining to belive this board although very good is bias twards the old johny rude. loyalty is a good thing until some one uses it against you. the old johny rudes earned their reputation the hard way not with some fancy marketing and heavy handed atitudes twards small mom and pop dealers . Who controles the the johnson and evienrude motor company NOW this is the original question i was hoping to get the answer to.<br /> I had a 1999 fitch 175 hp and a 2002 115 hp bombardier fitch ram motor although the 175 blew up in less than a year it got fixed faster with a better attitude then the much less serious problems i had with the 115 and i wont buy another johnson or evienrude product again until i have a few facts and a dealer network to back it up I dont care if it is a big mega store or a little mom and pop place but I had better get treated FAIRLY and the factory must stand firmly behind their product. Until then its Honda for for me and i much rather buy some thing that is built here in the good old usa it would not take much to win my buisness back. Time will tell the story i suppose . Thank you eveyone for their comments

 

[clanton]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

I dont know who ownes what, but I work part time for a 2 brand dealer. When we call Johnson Evinrude warranty/tech dept, the attitude is, what can we do for you today. Call backs in 30 minutes or less most of the time. Reminds me of OMC 10/12 years ago. Makes me think if you are having a warranty/service problem, it may be your dealer.

 

[honda cat]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

like i said the small dealers with master techs laptops pda,s all said the same thing if they did not take X amount of motors they could not be a dealer any more and the motors they had they where having a hard time selling at there cost because the package dealer down the road buys loose motors (from the boat companys) and sells at less than the little dealer pays and to be a boat dealer you dont have to go to school or buy parts tools ect. These two small dealers in my area i got very good service from one went out of buisness the other I bought a honda from and could not be happyer with the honda I just would like to buy a american product if it is sensable purchase . I have bought no less than ten motors the last 30 years and not since my 1977 70 hp johnson have i had a motor that i have enjoyed more than the honda 130 i have today . I certainly hope johnson evienrude doo well and some day earn thier loyalty back .

 

[roscoe]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

So exactly what American outboard would you like to buy? Bombardier is a Canadian company. I can only think of one, and they get half of their parts from foreign suppliers.

 

[steam_mill]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

Well, I'm in Ontario Canada. I live in Toronto and the boat is alway at the cottage close to Peterborough (Alway OMC territority).<br /><br />Only one dealer in Toronto wanted to sell me a J/E product at a heavily discounted price rather than a Merc.<br /><br />The dealer I dealt with for years, that still services electric shift outboards, told me to go buy a Merc. At least in the short term they will have better support.<br /><br />All other dealers were selling only new Mercs. To be honest I'm happy with my 90 hp classic. I probably will not need the Laptop or PDA (Although I am a computer consultant...) to fix this engine and I will more than likely be able to get parts for it for the next 30 years.<br /><br />If Bombardier can get there act together, maybe I will buy a J/E again.<br /><br />My neighbour owns a snowmobile/Jet ski dealer ship. He sells bombardier products almost exclusively and is the biggest dealer in the area.<br /><br />Guess what outboards he sell?<br /><br />Honda.<br /><br />Bombardier has never approached him to sell J/E.<br /><br />I don't know what conclusion to draw from this but it does not make sense to me.<br /><br />The software company I work for is always trying to get all of their products to customers. Why doesn't Bombardier want their full product line at their dealers?<br /><br />Just a thought....

 

[seahorse5]

Re: who owns Johnson evienrude now?

Steam_mill,<br /><br />Head down to Kingston and talk to Dave Brown of Browns Marine on Chaffey Lock Rd. He is not only one of the most honest folks that you will meet, but is one of the best techs and hard working marina owners in Canada or the States.