Marlow buys Hunter Marine

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey has approved the sale of the operating assets of Hunter Marine Corp. and "selected assets" of Mainship Corp. and the Luhrs Corp. to Marlow Acquisitions LLC, according to a letter the company sent recently to Hunter dealers.

The letter was sent to by Hunter president and chief restructuring officer John Peterson, who said he expects the deal to close within the month.
On April 30, Morgan Industries Corp., the parent company of Hunter Marine and the Luhrs Marine Group, filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey.

In its filing, Morgan says it had between $10 million and $50 million in assets and the same amount in liabilities. Listed in the filing were Hunter Composite Technologies Corp., Hunter Marine Corp., Luhrs Corp., Mainship Corp., Ovation Yachts Corp., Salisbury 10 Acres LLC, Salisbury 20 Acres LLC and Silverton Marine Corp.

Marlow Acquisitions is affiliated with Marlow companies operating worldwide across a broad spectrum of marine and related industries in a vertically integrated manufacturing and distribution environment, the letter sent to dealers said.

"I have spent numerous hours with Mr. David Marlow, principal of the purchasing entity," Peterson wrote to dealers. "I can assure you that he is elated with the opportunity afforded himself as the highest and best bidder."

"Mr. Marlow will be writing directly over the next few days, so I do not want to go into more details at this point other than to state that he enthusiastically believes in boating as a recreation lifestyle; he has a keen focus on new boats as the driving force to accomplish increased sales; and has a 40-year history of profitable boat building," the letter stated.

Marlow Yachts builds the Marlow Explorer, Marlow Voyager and Marlow Prowler lines of yachts, the letter said. Marlow has a boatbuilding yard in China.