Scuba Diving Equipment Market
Aqualung’s Principal Lender, Barings, Takes Over The Company After Aqualung Failed At Paying Its Debts
The famous French company will now be American-owned.
Darcy Kieran is the author of the reference book “Scuba Diving Industry Market Size & Statistics.”
We reported back in April that dive gear manufacturer Aqualung couldn’t pay its debt after cash had been siphoned out of the company by its owner, Montagu Private Equity. We also reported that the principal Lender, Barings, had put forward a proposal to take control of Aqualung after a French judge ordered Aqualung to find a remedy to its operational and financial difficulties.
And the proposal went forward. Aqualung’s principal lender, Barings, is now scheduled to take control of the company. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the Fall of this year.
Barings is an investment management firm owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and operating under MassMutual Financial Group.
Therefore, the famous French company will now be American-owned.
However, we should not expect this ownership situation to remain as such for long. Barings’ interest in Aqualung is strictly financial. Barings wants to recuperate the money it loaned to Aqualung. So we should expect Barings to flip Aqualung at their first opportunity, which is what these types of investors do.
In the meantime, to try to help Barings recuperate as much of its money as possible, Aqualung has been under the leadership of Bruno Cercley since June 2022. Cercley has extensive experience in... the ski industry! Cercley hired Scott Rittscholf as president for the American operations in August last year. Rittscholf also comes with experience in the ski industry as well as biking.
So the big question remains: What kind of vision do these financial and ski executives have for the dive equipment industry besides cutting costs and increasing prices?
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Also from Darcy Kieran:
- Handbook: Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor: How to Make a Good Living Out of Your Passion for Scuba Diving.
- Logbook: Advanced Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists for certified scuba divers, divemasters & dive instructors.
- Handbook: Advanced Guide to SPF Scuba Diving for Scuba Divers, Divemasters & Dive Instructors: Develop Better Scuba Diving Skills, Dive Safer, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Handbook: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Scuba Diving: How to Increase Safety, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Logbook: STARTER Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists while getting your open water diver certification!
- Reference book: Scuba Diving Industry Market Reports, Data & Statistics.
Side note: During your surface intervals, have a look at my novels with a scuba diving twist, starting with “Mystery of The Blue Dragon” and “Shadows on Ocean Drive.”
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What now? Have a look at the complete Scubanomics Table of Contents.
