Dallas-based Safe Harbor Marinas said on Aug. 10 that it has acquired MarineMax for $53 a share, or about $1.5 billion, in cash. MarineMax, based in Oldsmar, Florida, is a boat and yacht retailer that also provides superyacht services.
Sidley Austin provided outside legal counsel to MarineMax with a team led by David Grubman and Adam Cromie in New York. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised Safe Harbor, which is a portfolio company of Blackstone Infrastructure, with a New York-based team led by Anthony Vernace, Michael Chao and Malik Ladhan.
John Ray is the general counsel for Safe Harbor.
MarineMax will become a privately held unit of Safe Harbor upon deal close, which is expected by Dec. 31, and the company’s stock will no longer trade on the NYSE.
Safe Harbor Marinas said the purchase price represents a premium of 96 percent to MarineMax’s closing price of $27.03 on Jan. 30, when the unsolicited bid to acquire the company was announced.
“Throughout this process, we have remained focused on maximizing value for our shareholders and positioning MarineMax for continued growth and success,” CEO Brett McGill said in a news release. MarinaMax has 70 dealerships and 65 marinas worldwide.
“I am proud of the strength of our differentiated, resilient and integrated model, loyal customer base, talented team and premium product portfolio,” McGill said. “The scale of our combined platforms will help us enhance and expand our offerings, deepen our partner and customer relationships, and provide greater opportunities for our team.”
Safe Harbor CEO Baxter Underwood said the merger combines complementary businesses that “can create greater value for boaters and an expanded service offering for the industry.”
MarineMax used Wells Fargo as exclusive financial advisor, and Evercore is the exclusive financial advisor to Safe Harbor.
The Texas lawyers on the Sidley Austin team include Celeste Acevado, David Monteiro and Michael Cumming in Dallas and Heather Palmer in Houston. There weren’t any Texas attorneys on the Simpson Thacher team of 39 lawyers.