Is Textron selling Arctic Cat to John Deere?

[biffdotorg]

Click bait you got me

It's been way too long since anyone was Rick rolled

 

[0degC]

Heard a rumour today could be White River Marine Group?

 

[1nc 2000]

 

[sideshowBob]

View attachment 178140

I guess that was the update I had been told would come at the end of February....was hoping it was going to be a new buyer.

 

[1nc 2000]

All layoffs will happen by May 22nd....

 

[biffdotorg]

All layoffs will happen by May 22nd....

And the St Cloud location Mid March. I think the count was 385 in TRF in may and 15-18 in St Cloud mid March.

 

[rbig18]

Sadly I think it was a write-off loss play for Textron and it will be now be sold off in pieces. Manufacturing facilities, maybe the patents on their front suspension so Doo can copy it, probably a bunch of other things. Sum of the pieces is worth more than the whole.

 

[jonlafon1]

Heard a rumour today could be White River Marine Group?

That would be better then CF Moto IMO. Unfortunately this sport is dying & I think Cat may go down for good this time around. Not want I want to see but

 

[0degC]

That would be better then CF Moto IMO. Unfortunately this sport is dying & I think Cat may go down for good this time around. Not want I want to see but

I think you are correct. Just a rumor I picked up at a Cat dealer, as of yesterday they seemed optimistic? But that further announcement yesterday is not good news.

 

[journeyman]

That would be better then CF Moto IMO. Unfortunately this sport is dying & I think Cat may go down for good this time around. Not want I want to see but

I think you are correct. Bad winters, high prices, the age demographics of the average buyer over 50 years old and the fact that Cat/Yamaha had such a thin slice of the market share spells curtains for Cat. Who knows if the trends keep going this way we could eventually lose another or all of the sled makers? Now add in the new tariffs coming in that will not only hurt the sled business but many other businesses.

 

[74Nitro]

I don't think the sport is dying. There have been so many machines on our local trails the past couple months it's crazy.
People have money and want to enjoy life. This is one of the many ways to do so.

 

[stgdz]

There is some 18-24k sleds moving in sales

There is not a lot of 8-18k sleds moving in sales


Hell even the used market is flat and there have been some incredible deals.

 

[Hunter7]

In my area in Manitoba sales are slow too. I do think a lot of people are getting out of the sport. See some great deals on used sleds only a few years old. I don’t see sales being any better for Skidoo or Polaris than Yamaha or Cat. Thing is a lot of people just can’t afford to be spending $25,0000+ on a new sled for a toy they might only use a few times a year, the winters we get now are a crap shoot. I recently retired and have to watch my money, can’t afford a new truck for $80-90 grand that’s why I still drive a 20 year old truck and a 14 year old Apex. Even at that, not getting as much use of my sled as I hoped too.

 

[journeyman]

I am sure most have seen that it's been all over the news that Arctic Cat permanently laid off almost 400 full time employees. So you have to wonder if all the rumors about a new buyer are just that. Unless someone is going to buy them and they want a clean slate of their own employees at their own wage structure?

It has been talked about that Yamaha originally offered Cat significantly more money than what Textron paid for them. Someone told me the other day the reason Cat did not bite on that is Yamaha was not planning on using the TRF facility and only wanted it for the snowmobile business side, not any of the 4 wheelers, etc. I'm assuming they would have moved snowmobile manufacturing into one of their sites maybe down south?

 

[earthling]

I am sure most have seen that it's been all over the news that Arctic Cat permanently laid off almost 400 full time employees. So you have to wonder if all the rumors about a new buyer are just that. Unless someone is going to buy them and they want a clean slate of their own employees at their own wage structure?

It has been talked about that Yamaha originally offered Cat significantly more money than what Textron paid for them. Someone told me the other day the reason Cat did not bite on that is Yamaha was not planning on using the TRF facility and only wanted it for the snowmobile business side, not any of the 4 wheelers, etc. I'm assuming they would have moved snowmobile manufacturing into one of their sites maybe down south?

Maybe, if Cat was paying unusually high wages or made commitments to the employees (management) at some point but wages are typically set by the local economy so you would be getting rid of trained labor only to have to buy them or someone like them back... All you have done is not pay them for the interim (betewen layoff and rehire).

The issue would likely be more about employee contracts that were untenable to the buyer. The implication is that there is a buyer who made the demand to sever those contracts up front, and the act itself (permanent) makes it feel like this is either a play to sell only the manufacturing facility or there is a buyer who made this demand, typically this would imply private equity money, not bank backed or corporate backed money which tends to be more conservative with employee IP/rights and business continuity.