Oyster Yachts in liquidation
- Thread starter Scott B
- Start date
Oh bummer. It has been thought that the Dutch investors were VERY worried about exposure after the Polina Star III accident. While Oyster said the design issue that cause the catastrophic hull failure was contained to just a few boats, existing and potential owners were not buying it.
It might come back as a new entity as a way to shed the existing product liability. Not the first time that game has been played.
It might come back as a new entity as a way to shed the existing product liability. Not the first time that game has been played.
Saw this on Facebook. Sounds more like a financial backer pulled the plug rather than Oyster ducking liabilities? Or maybe the financial backer had those thoughts? They just launched a 745 at the Dusseldorf Show.
Posted in " Sailing Anarchy" : ".... One of the more interesting parts of the Dusseldorf Boat Show was sitting down with Oyster Yachts CEO David Tydeman for a chat and a tour of their new 745, pictured here. David is a man with decades of experience in this sport and during our conversation shared that they had something like $70 million in orders on the books. To get a 745, not only would it set you back about $5 million, but you would looking well into 2019 before you could even think about getting one. How’s this for a cockpit?
The picture he painted was that the company was very satisfied to be where they were, and had eyes forward on projects like the 118′ Reichel/Pugh beauty of which he thought perhaps two orders were about to close. So it came as a shock when the news came out about their huge financial issues.
I spoke with David on the phone and he of course was stunned and reticent to say much other than the withdrawal of their financial backer, HTP Investments did them in. We don’t know the full story, but without question, the 400 employees who are loosing their jobs, and the people with boats on order and under build are the ones who are going to feel this immediately.
That for sure. It is sad that the company had so much financial exposure to cash flow with an order book that size.
That book of business is dependent on A LOT of foreign manufacturering supply material that will need to be bought with British Pounds, a currency that is dropping fast. That suggests the Dutch investors don’t see the margins represented by Oyster as being realistic. Look for Oyster to re-org in the Eurozone, if at all.
In have a feeling that this is the beginning of a trend towards the big, luxury roomarans. Nothing can beat those monstrosities for comfort, space and modcons, which I'm sure most of the wives prefer to sailing ability. Heck, one could carry a snipe or similar sailing boat (or two!) on a 72 footer and still have room for a really nice RIB. I've even seen circular staircases on those babies!
The former owner of PS3 has a big tale to tell, and has a very nice web site to make it all presentable. One side of the story of course, but there is lots of supporting evidence, and then of course the actual factual narrative that mirrors it. Taken at face value, it looks like Oyster tried to sweep it all under the rug right up until the last moment, and turned the story of a bad boat into a company destroying mess.
http://oysterstory.info/
http://oysterstory.info/
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Thanks, that is a fascinating read. Oyster seemed to be run more like a amateur boutique shop than the big business I thought they were. I had read the keel loss report previously, this takes it to the bitter end. Clearly there were build problems. But what surprises me is the apparent lack of Oyster's professional liability indemnification. Responsible contractors don't build things without liability insurance and surely a sinking boat would be within the realm of possible for Oyster. I suspect that Oyster had let its insurance lapse, perhaps they never had any insurance. Stunning.
The Dutch investment company got Oyster for a pretty good price - 15 million BP. Not bad for a well-regarded hot luxury yacht company with a backorder book. But if Oyster takes a 5 million BP loss with no insurance while Britain is checking out of the European Union and thumbing their nose at the EU Court of Justice...I can see where the yard investor would say, "crazy, let's be done with these guys".
The Dutch investment company got Oyster for a pretty good price - 15 million BP. Not bad for a well-regarded hot luxury yacht company with a backorder book. But if Oyster takes a 5 million BP loss with no insurance while Britain is checking out of the European Union and thumbing their nose at the EU Court of Justice...I can see where the yard investor would say, "crazy, let's be done with these guys".
Reading between the lines, it seems that they had blinders on to the actual design and construction flaws, created by the worry of what such a fact might do to Oyster's 'reputation'. So they buried their heads in the sand and stalled, hoping the rich crazy Russian would just go away. Problem is that the rich crazy Russian didn't get rich by being a dummy.
And the Dutch are just as much to blame. NO WAY a non-equity CEO makes that call without BoD approval and blessing.
HTP Investments picked up Oyster for pocket change, roughly 20% of what it sold for 4 years earlier. A whimsical purchase of a prestige brand, I'm betting they weren't paying that close of attention to the situation. Looks like KPMG has the liquidation contract and I would be surprised if the Dutch don't get their 15 million BP back and more from the proceeds. Put some real boat yard management in there and get back to work.
Companies are worth exactly what someone pays for it. In this case Oyster was worth £15 million. Someone upstream got caught in a bloodbath, but it does not effect the worth on the day of the transaction. In this case, the £15 million was put up as personal money by the two principal investors of HTP and not the fund. I'm guessing they were in the CEO's ear every single day.
Unless there is a way they can scrub off the liability, they are in for their own personal bloodbath.