Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/803676
4 • April 3, 2017 • Powersports Business NEWS www.PowersportsBusiness.com www.powersportsbusiness.com Editorial and Sales: 763.383.4400 Subscriber Service: 847.513.6025 EDITOR IN CHIEF: Dave McMahon 763/383-4411 (dmcmahon@powersportsbusiness.com) SENIOR EDITOR: Liz Keener 763/383-4413 (lkeener@powersportsbusiness.com) ASSISTANT EDITOR: Kate Swanson 763/383-4412 (kswanson@powersportsbusiness.com) MANAGING ART DIRECTOR: Dodi Vessels ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: Nicole Siewert PRODUCTION ARTIST: Kelsey Houle PRODUCTION MANAGER: Angela Schmieg PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Cherri Perschmann NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Allison Gruhn 763/383-4467 (agruhn@powersportsbusiness.com) NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER Mark Rosacker 763/383-4433 (mrosacker@powersportsbusiness.com) NATIONAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE Michael Kula 763/383-4440 (mkula@powersportsbusiness.com) CEO: Marion Minor SR. VICE PRESIDENT/FINANCE & OPERATIONS: Gerald Winkel SR. VICE PRESIDENT/MARKET DEVELOPMENT: Joanne Juda-Prainito GROUP PUBLISHER/MOTORCYCLE, POWERSPORTS: David J. Voll SALES OPERATIONS MANAGER: Bernadette Wohlman CONTRIBUTORS: COLUMNISTS: Steve Jones, Paula Crosbie CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Lisa Pelissier, Hoa Ly DEALER ADVISORY BOARD: Hooksett Kawasaki-Polaris, Jim Whalley; Hacker's Yamaha & Honda, Rick Hacker; Honda/Polaris of Lubbock, Morris Baker; All Action Water Sports, Ray Leps POWERSPORTS BUSINESS (ISSN #1522-7944) is published monthly except twice in May and November plus the Market Data Book in May, 15 times per year by EPG Media/Specialty Information Media, 10405 6th Avenue North, Suite 210, Minneapolis, MN 55441. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Powersports Business, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Free to qualified members of the motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle, snowmobile and personal watercraft industries. 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MARCH 2017 24: Ski-Doo Spring Sneak Peek Tour, Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, Madison, WI 24-25: Snowmobile Sneak Peek Tour, Eastview Arena, Barrie, ON 25: Monster Energy Supercross Ford Field, Detroit, MI 25: RSD Super Hooligan National Championship Series, Dixie Speedway, Woodstock, GA 25-26: 30th annual Donnie Smith Bike & Car Show, RiverCentre, St Paul, MN 26: Ski-Doo Spring Sneak Peer Tour, The Garden Hotel and Conference Center, South Beloit, IL 27: MotoAmerica Livery Reveal, Container Bar, Austin, TX 28: Motorcycle Industry Council Board Meeting, MIC Office, Irvine, CA 28: Ski-Doo Spring Sneak Peek, Steamboat Powersports, Steamboat Springs, CO 28: Parts Unlimited Helmet & Apparel Product Tour, Portland, OR; Nashua, NH; Aurora, IL 28: Drag Specialties Training Tour, Tampa, FL 28: Snowmobile Sneak Peek Tour, Red River Exhibition Park, Winnipeg, MB 28-29: MotoAmerica Dunlop Preseason Test, Circuit of the Americas, Austin, TX 29: Ski-Doo Spring Sneak Peek Tour, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN 30: Ski-Doo Spring Sneak Peek Tour, Lamar Street Center, Arvada, CO 30: Snowmobile Sneak Peek Tour, Prairieland Park, Saskatoon, SK 30: Parts Unlimited Helmet & Apparel Product Tour, Seattle, WA; Springfield, MA; Pewaukee, WI 30: Drag Specialties Training Tour, Jacksonville, FL 30-April 1: Snowmobile Sneak Peek Tour, National Sports Center, Blaine, MN 31-April 2: Rockers vs. Mods, Strokers Dallas, Dallas, TX 31-April 2: 33rd Annual Motion Pro Nevada "200" Trailride, Caliente, NV APRIL 2017 1: Monster Energy Supercross, The Dome at America's Center, St. Louis, MO 1: Snowmobile Sneak Peek Tour, Northlands EXPO Center, Edmonton, AB 1: Ski-Doo Spring Sneak Peek Tour, Montrose Implement and Motorsports, Montrose, CO 1: American Flat Track, Charlotte Half-Mile, Charlotte, NC 1-2: AMA ISDE West Qualifier Series Round 3, Washougal, WA 1-2: JetJam Rotary Beach, Lake Havasu City, AZ 2: Sand Sports Off-Road & Motorsports Super Swap, OC Fair & Event Center, Costa Mesa, CA 2: Royal Enfield One Ride, Global 3: Snowmobile Sneak Peek Tour, Fargo Dome, Fargo, ND 5-9: Arizona Bike Week, Scottsdale, AZ 5-9: AMA Gypsy Tour, Arizona Bike Week, Phoenix, AZ 6-9: Snowmobile Sneak Peek Tour, Arctic Man, Summit Lake, Paxon, AK 7: U.S. Motorcycle Coaching Association Track Day/ Road Racing Workshop, Fontana Speedway, Fontana, CA 8: Monster Energy Supercross, Century Link Field, Seattle, WA 8: 2017 AMA Supermoto National Championship Series, Kem County Raceway, Bakersfield, CA 8-9: WERA Sportsman Series, Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA 8-9: Eurobike, Historic City Market, Raleigh, NC 11: Parts Unlimited Street & Off-Road Product Tour, Oklahoma City, OK 11: Drag Specialties Training Tour, Nashville, TN 13: Drag Specialties Training Tour, Knoxville, TN 13: Parts Unlimited Street & Off-Road Product Tour, Dallas, TX 13: Ski-Doo Spring Sneak Peek Tour, Williwaw, Anchorage, AK CALENDAR OF EVENTS Email dmcmahon@powersportsbusiness.com to get your industry event added to the calendar. Bad Boy also renamed Textron Off Road BY LIZ KEENER SENIOR EDITOR Textron Inc. has been making inroads into the powersports industry since it acquired the Bad Boy brand of electric side-by-sides in 2010, but it took a larger leap into the industry on March 6, when the company completed its acquisition of Arctic Cat Inc. The Arctic Cat Board of Directors unani- mously approved the cash transaction val- ued at approximately $247 million, plus the assumption of existing debt. Textron, through its Textron Specialized Vehicles wholly owned subsidiary, offered to purchase all outstanding shares of Arctic Cat for $18.50 per share in cash, a 40.7 percent premium to the closing price of ACAT stock. The move came after Arctic Cat reported four consecutive quarters of losses, including a net loss of $12.8 million, or $0.98 per share in the Sept. 30, 2016-ending second quarter of the company's fiscal 2017. Under the short-form merger, Arctic Cat will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Tex- tron under Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc. "We see this as just an excellent marriage between what we started here with Bad Boy and Textron Off Road and the E-Z-GO PTV (personal transportation vehicle) lineup, and they've got a fantastic powersports brand," said John Collins, vice president — Consumer for Textron Specialized Vehicles. "They've got a very large distribution network. If you look at our distribution map, and their distribution map, they're very strong in places where we're weak, and we're relatively strong where they're weak. So that gives us geographic overlay that is beneficial for both companies." As a company that was built on snowmo- biles first, Arctic Cat has a stronger presence in the snow belt, while Textron Specialized Vehicles, based in Augusta, Georgia, has a firmer grip on the South. Textron Inc. is a $13.8 billion company with operations in more than 25 countries and about 35,000 employees. From 1968-81 it owned Arctic Cat's Minnesota rival Polaris. Textron is now the company behind Bell Heli- copter, Textron Aviation, Textron Systems and Textron Financial Corporation, as well as Tex- tron Specialized Vehicles. Under the Textron Specialized Vehicles umbrella are brands Tex- tron Off Road (formerly Bad Boy Off Road), E-Z-GO golf cars and personal transportation vehicles, Cushman commercial utility vehi- cles, Dixie Chopper zero-turn mowers, Jacob- sen professional turf-care equipment, and Douglas, TUG, Premier and Safeaero ground support equipment. "From a product standpoint, we've devel- oped some great products like the Stampede and other vehicles that we have in the pipeline to come," Collins told Powersports Business. "We've got an electric 4WD product that obvi- ously they don't have. We've got the E-Z-GO PTV, which has just done great with the power- sports dealers. And they've got the vehicles like the Alterra, the Prowler and the Wildcat that we're excited about, so if you look at channel distribution, product, brands, we don't have snowmobiles — that's something that was way, way far out in our product pipeline plans — but I think you really have some very good syner- gies to lay on top of each other with the Textron product and the Arctic Cat products coming together here. So that's what we're excited about and planning to take advantage of." TEXTRON OFF ROAD IS BORN While Textron was closing the Arctic Cat acquisition in early March, the company also announced that it is replacing the Bad Boy Off Road brand with Textron Off Road. "The reason we're doing that is Bad Boy, it's been very good to us, and regionally, it's been very strong, but it's really had a hard time being more of a national brand," Collins said. "When you think of Textron, Textron may not be a product or a brand that's known to a lot of consumers, but when you go out and look up Textron completes Arctic Cat acquisition, looks ahead See Textron, Page 5 Textron staff were on hand for the Arctic Cat Dealer Meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota, in late February.