Got this morning
News January 06, 2009
View Article
Current Articles | Archives | Search
05Investors, buyers may benefit from Country Coach's woes
Greg Gerber posted on January 05, 2009 11:56
JUNCTION CITY, Ore. — Troubled times for Country Coach could be good news for bargain hunters — both customers looking to get a deal on a new motor home, and investors ready to swoop in and pick up the pieces of a company that still has a strong reputation for building high-quality RVs, a local RV dealer said.
The privately held company notified its 500 employees on Tuesday that it will be forced to permanently shut down by Feb. 28 unless it obtains new financing. Even if it obtains the financing, the company said, it expects to impose “mass layoffs” starting around March 1.
The factory stopped production in November, and was to have resumed work on Monday, but will remain closed until further notice.
Guaranty RV Super Centers in Junction City is a major dealer for Country Coach. General manager Shannon Nill said Friday he’s hopeful the RV maker will be able to get the capital infusion it needs to stay in business.
“They have a few investors, and they’re looking for one more,” he said.
Country Coach’s majority owner is Los Angeles investment banker Bryant Riley. He and a group of investors that included Country Coach’s founder Bob Lee, CEO Jay Howard and his brother, vice president Jim Howard, bought Country Coach in February 2007 from National R.V. Holdings for $38.75 million. Nill said he’s heard from company officials that its value is now around $16 million.
Nill also said he’s heard rumors the company might be drawing interest from Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway owns Indiana RV company Forest River and recently bought the RV assets of Coachman Industries.
Even with the company’s troubles, people are still buying Country Coaches, Nill said. Guaranty has sold five in the past week, he said. He said Country Coach is the “top quality brand” in the RV industry, rivaled only by Monaco Coach in Coburg.
Nill said the company’s woes likely will bring out customers looking for deals.
“These people know fully well what the situation is,” he said. “It’s a buyer’s market. People buying Country Coach will pay less than we pay. … They can buy a top-quality product at a depressed price. We’ve got to find homes for these things.”
SOURCE: Register Guard
Posted in: Dealer News
Jim and Chris
2001 Featherlite Vogue XLV 2 slide with Rivets-current coach, 1999 shell
Previous 22 years,
We have owned every kind of Prevost shell but an H3-40