One of the partners of Iconic Marine Group — the group that purchased the Fountain, Donzi, Baja and Pro-Line boat brands last spring — bought out the shares of saltwater fishing brand Pro-Line.
“Pro-Line, what we did is we basically sold it to one of the partners that was in the company in exchange for their shares of Iconic Marine Group,” Iconic Marine Group COO Joe Curran told Trade Only Today.
“We separated the partnership. At this point he and his group are going to run that company, and we’re going to invest in the premium brands and continue what we’re doing, minus the Pro-Line.”
Iconic Marine Group was formed quietly in May when the Fred Ross and Joe Wortley families (then named Custom Marine Group) bought all four brands that had been part of Baja Marine LLC and went public in August. Until the recent purchase, the brands had spent much of the past decade changing hands and moving in and out of bankruptcy.
The move will allow Iconic Marine Group to concentrate on the continued investment and overall development of these brands under the sole ownership of Fred Ross. The Joe Wortley family will operate Pro-Line.
The management of Iconic Marine Group remains unchanged.
Fountain, Donzi, Donzi Classic and Baja will continue to operate and be manufactured at the present location in Washington, N.C.
“When rebuilding a company that has multiple brands serving different market segments, it quickly becomes apparent that you need to develop a culture and company attitude that can serve those segments rationally and productively,” Curran said in a statement.
“Sole ownership by Mr. Ross, along with improved management attention, will provide these brands the operational structure to grow in the future. The newly organized operation will allow us to better focus on our premium brands and intensify our efforts in dealer development, product development, process improvement and marketing.”
The company will continue new model introductions and upgrade current offerings in the coming months and new model year, Curran said. “It’s actually exciting. I love those brands, [and] the synergies of these three brands are good,” Curran told Trade Only Today.
