A Word From The New Ownership.......

[Backlash Ar]

As has been speculated by some folks, the new ownership has been dealing with other investors for Cobra USA and were anxiously awaiting to inform everyone about the re-opening on the 1st of this month. At the 11th hour they were informed by an investor that there was some contractual language that needed to be amended before moving forward. They have asked that I post the following........


"The potential buyers of Cobra would like to inform you of the progress of the sale. The legal paper work has taken longer then expected from one of the investors, however the deal is still expected to go thru, and the goal is to have it completed on or before the end of August. Thank you all for being so patient through this whole ordeal."

[westtx]

I find it hard to believe that they have bad intentions. It cost's money to keep paying lawyers, rent, etc... It would be much easier to close the doors and walk away if that was thier intention. I doubt that we'll ever all know "the whole truth," but I would bet that these "one more months" are costing Ed Fry a pretty penny. Good luck with the sale Ed, and good luck to the new ownership - bass boat owners will be tough to get back if/once they leave.

Earlier on it seems like I remember someone saying once we know who it is we'll all have confidence that they will know how to run a boat company and will easily have pocketbooks deep enough to recover. I can't wait to hear who that is.

As always, interesting reading/drama if nothing else. I'm in the market to sell my 201D and buy something new, but wanted to wait until the new ownership showed up. Tough to wait...

Good luck Kathy, wherever you head...

W
W

[Gary L]

In all this time they get down to this and then some Investor says hey I don't like the wording on this so we gotta wait and do it over before I put my money down. This sounds like more BS for sure and I wasn't expecting this kind of Management out of these folks at all. What all this time and they haven't been communicating with the Investors.

[l84supr]

I find all this to be pretty common in light of what Chip left Ed Fry with. It is sad that the more time that is wasted the more ammunition it gives to the naysayers.

I would rather take a few more days getting it right than six months down the road and find out that the rush caused the plant to shut down again.

My heart goes out to Kathy who waited it out til forced to go another direction.....Bernie

[skeeterbutch]

Being biased on this and with our corporation being sold I do understand that wording and details can and do hold up finalization of a sale. There are 14 brand names in the corporation I work for and the sale as been going on for about 9 months here. And when a company has some legal issues that are left behind like cobra has because of Chip, and the gel coat problem years ago I know the new owners don't want any of that coming back on them so wording does play a huge part. And of course when lawyers are involved and they get a few hundred dollars an hour they are not in any hurry. Just hope it doesn't continue with the "cry wolf" syndrome that appears to be happening...30 days, 30 days, 30 days. if it keeps up no one will believe they will ever open the doors.

[Backlash Ar]

Gary, I got just as emotional as everybody else when this bomshell landed but I pretty much kept my emotions in check. Now that some of the smoke has cleared and I've had some time to assess the situation, I truly believe that's what happened! Not saying that it should have, but it did. I realize there have been more than a few disappointments along the way but this latest snafu, I don't believe was their doing. You can't blame them for looking for more investors...boat production isn't a cheap venture. They want to get started just as bad as we want to see them get started. They realize the importance of a timeline and that's not working in their favor right now. The longer this drags on, the more it could hurt them.

They are willing to invest a considerable amount of money, (all theirs, none of ours) in this venture and as I posted right from the git-go this whole process wasn't going to go forward until everything was in place. Unfortunately they thought on Aug. 1st it would all be in place, and indicated such, only to find out the word "all" had to once again be replaced by the word "almost".

There's no denying that unless everything is in order before forging ahead they'll just end up like all the rest who preceded them....and that will be the end of Cobra. We've all said time after time, it wasn't the product that caused the company their problems.

[Gary L]

Yes, I am well aware that they have to have all the I's dotted and the T's crossed before they open the doors. I just find it ironic that at the last minute they find this wording of the investors legal paperwork to be a problem. Why weren't they working on this with the Attorney's in the first place. I would not think that it would take a month to negociate a new investors contract when most of the work is done. They are loosing their best asset which is the loyalty of the people. The Product Called COBRA BASS BOAT was not built by the Management it was build by a group of dedicated and passionate PEOPLE that loved the boat and took pride in how it was constructed. It has never been about the Product Called COBRA BASS BOAT but about the Management. Without the PEOPLE that built the Cobra's they have nothing but a mold. They will need to train new people, which they can do, but will those people have the passion that was Cobra or will it just be a job? Kathy loved those boats and each one was her Baby and each one was built for the customer with love and devotion to produce a quality long lasting product. That is why we have people out there with 90's era Viper/Cobra Bass Boats still running around and fishing and looking good. Each and every one of them was built with love and that passion was given to the owners when they took delivery. Yes it takes time to put together a deal like this but it will take twice as long if it ever happens to build a employee base that had the Passion that was Cobra!


Modified by Gary L at 5:45 PM 8/2/2006

[Cleveland]

VERY GOOD post Gary Thank you very much. It's not about the management....it's about the QUALITY of the product. I have passed the word along to my fellow employees that have ALSO run out of unemployment benefits while waiting on this thing to happen and they too have decided to move on. So, I wish the new management all the luck in the world in training a new crew of people to build the boats and I just HOPE that that new crew has the passion and dedication for QUALITY that we had.

[Gary L]

That is not something you can manage into people it is something that comes with dedication and devotion to a product.

[JoePA]

Great post Gary! Like you said I can get anyone to do a job..but to do it well and really care about what they are doing???? Not in todays world. It's all about the $$$ and nothing else.

[Gungle George]

[Pat Cella]

I know that it has gotten very frustrating, especially for those who are waiting to go to work, but I have purchased several companies over the years and this is how it goes. Anyone who has ever closed on a house knows that it seldom happens as fast and when you expect it to, so multiply that several times and this is what you get when you are trying to close on a business. Then multiply it several more times when that businsess has had legal problems in the past.

I am sure that no one wants this to happen any faster than the soon to be new owners. They are just trying to get it right so they can make this thing work, which is what everyone wants, no one wants them to make some kind of mistake, or leave something out that is going to cause this thing to fail six months down the road, especially those waiting to go to work. Try to hang in there Kathy.

Pat

[Cleveland]

I'd like to hang in there Pat but I have decided to move on. I think this latest setback is a sign for me that there is more to life than Cobra Boats and Mtn. Home, Arkansas.

I won't be leaving the BBC or the Cobra forum. I am just going to take this opportunity to start a new life for myself while I am still young enough to do it. Some of the best years of my life was at Cobra Boats and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to work there. I didn't know jack about building boats the first day I walked into the plant and now I have enough knowledge and experience that I can go anywhere and build anything out of fiberglass. I HAVE LEARNED A LOT !!! I started out on the bottom of the ladder and clawed my way to the top and I think I should make my exit while I am on top of my game. On Monday of this week I was a sad puppy and here it is Friday and it is all behind me and I am excited about my future again. I'm a happy camper and feeling back to my ol "Dumplin" self again

[thbass]

Kathy, your not planning to leave Mountain Home are you?

[Cleveland]

Yes Tom, I am leaving Mountain Home, Arkansas. Hopefully before the end of the month. If not by then, it will be early in September. I really have no interest at all in working at Legend, BassCat, or Ranger Boats. And the only things left in Mtn. Home are stores, restaurants, Churches, and Banks. Thats it.

[Al from Canada]

I really don't mean to be negative, but I'll be surprised if the new management has the plant doors open by the end of the month.
I know that it takes quite a while to buy a company and get things sorted out; especially in light of what Chip left behind, but this is ridiculous.

It just doesn't take this long to get something going........makes you wonder what will happen to Cobra should they actually get it going; they've not helped the people that used to work there and have been patiently waiting (and watching their unemployment checks come to an end). Just my .02 cents on the subject.

[Chad]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Al from Canada &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">........makes you wonder what will happen to Cobra should they actually get it going </TD></TR></TABLE>

and what will happen to the customers that purchase boats from them. On my second Cobra now, and had planned on buying a new one in a year or so once things get up and running, but am having serious reservations about that now.

[Cleveland]

Don't throw in the towel yet Chad. Give it a chance. The man buying the plant has been in the boat manufacturing business for over 30 years...he knows what he's doing Me and my fellow employees have waited 26 weeks for this thing to happen. I juat can't wait anymore.

From what I have heard, he plans on doing some MAJOR mold modifications so that Cobra can be back in the competative market again....such as removable consoles for an example and doing something about accessing the compartment where the batteries are.....I call that area the engine box.

Don't give up on Cobra. There are still The Most STRIKING bassboat on the water. But I really do hope and pray that he gets the Coral fish-n-ski's back into production

[fishn4ever56]

Cleveland........are you going to do what we talked about......the job that was waiting if you wanted it?

[Cleveland]

Still got that in my back pocket Boyd. I'll let you guys know. I'll have a better idea of what I am going to do next week.