Brunswick acquires BLA

Brunswick Corporation has announced that it has acquired BLA, Australia's largest provider of "boating, lifestyle and adventure" products, to strengthen Brunswick's marine parts and accessories (P&A) presence in the region. Terms were not disclosed. BLA had revenues of approximately $50 million in 2014.

"We continue to seek opportunities to strategically grow our marine and fitness operations throughout the world," said Brunswick Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dustan McCoy. "BLA bolsters the distribution arm of our marine P&A business by expanding our reach and customer responsiveness in the important Australian marine marketplace and this region of the world."

Founded in 1974, BLA has an extensive dealer network throughout Australia and New Zealand and also serves original equipment manufacturers. BLA offers products from such brands as Attwood, BEP, Cannon, Humminbird, Lewmar, Mastervolt, Minnkota, SeaStar Solutions, Sierra and Whale.

A recent press release said that BLA will continue to conduct business under its current name and will remain based in Brisbane. It also has operations in Melbourne and Perth, along with Auckland, New Zealand. 

"We are pleased to have completed this transaction with BLA and look forward to continuing and extending a connection with its current client base and the marine industry in the region," McCoy said. "This is another strategic step in our efforts to continue to grow Brunswick. We will grow our organisation both organically through an aggressive pace of new product introduction, as well as by select acquisitions such as the BLA transaction, which now joins both Whale, a leader in water and heating systems, and Bell Recreational Products Group, a Midwest-based P&A distributor, as recent additions to Mercury's P&A business."