Malibu Boats, Inc. (MBUU)
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M&A Announcement

Jan 5, 2021

Operator

Good morning and welcome to Malibu Boats' Conference Call to discuss the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. Please be advised that reproduction of this call, in whole or in part, is not permitted without written authorization of Malibu Boats. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. On the call today from management are Mr. Jack Springer, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wayne Wilson, Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Ritchie Anderson, Chief Operating Officer. I will turn the call over to Mr. Wilson. To get started, please go ahead, sir.

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. This morning, we announced the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group, which we will be discussing in more detail during this call. A slide presentation for today's call can be found in the investor relations section of the company's website. Earlier this morning, we filed an 8-K with a press release, slides, and purchase agreement, among other items. I also want to remind everyone that management's remarks on this call may contain certain forward-looking statements, including predictions, expectations, estimates, or other information considered forward-looking. Actual results could differ materially from those projected on today's call. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today, and the company undertakes no obligation to update them for any new information or future events.

Factors that might affect future results are discussed in our filings with the SEC, and we encourage you to review our SEC filings for a more detailed description of these risk factors. During this call, we will not be discussing or entertaining questions regarding our fiscal year 2021 Q2 financial results. We plan to discuss those results on a regularly scheduled earnings call in February. I will now turn the call over to Jack.

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Thank you, Wayne. We are very pleased to announce that we have closed the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group, which is comprised of four brands: Cobia, Pathfinder, Maverick, and Hewes. Maverick represents a strong player in the center console and bay boat space and has a distinguished reputation. Complementing Pursuit, this strategic acquisition enhances Malibu's breadth of saltwater outboard offerings with four strong brands. Further, this acquisition increases production opportunity for a high-turn business while capturing previously untapped demand. The acquisition is anticipated to be immediately accretive, excluding purchase accounting and acquisition costs. For over 35 years, Maverick has been associated with high quality and strong performance in the marine industry. As a pioneer in the flats and bay boat segments, Maverick's diverse model lineup in footage and price amplifies exposure to a wide range of boating enthusiasts.

Maverick also has built a strong foundation with its customers, which we are excited to integrate into the Malibu family. This acquisition propels our position within a historically high-growth market that has continued to see momentum, presenting new opportunities for further growth and profitability. With a combined passion for boating, Maverick is the perfect fit for Malibu's experience and business model in the saltwater market. Founded in 1984, what began as a family founder-run business has grown into a strong, reputable player in the center console and bay boat space. As I mentioned, Maverick complements Pursuit and expands our saltwater outboard offerings with four additional great brands, expanding our portfolio of industry-leading products. With two manufacturing facilities located in Fort Pierce, Florida, the acquisition of Maverick allows us to leverage our strong growth momentum while expanding our manufacturing capacity, product development, and distribution opportunities.

Arguably most important, Maverick quickly strengthens our product portfolio for boats 28 ft and under, further enhancing our competitive position. Boats 28 ft and under, as well as bay boats, have been under consideration by Malibu for a while. We have been evaluating our normal build versus buy approach, and the availability of Maverick Boat Group made the decision very easy. This acquisition positions us well immediately in the category of saltwater outboard boats that we consider important to our strategic growth. Maverick designs and manufactures the Cobia, Pathfinder, Maverick, and Hewes brands, totaling 28 unique boat models. Cobia serves cruising and sport fishing markets with center console and dual console categories ranging from 20-35 ft. Pathfinder focuses on bay fishing boats ranging from 20-27 ft, while Maverick and Hewes produce flats fishing boats ranging from 17-21 ft.

The dealer network is well established and filled with key relationships with 70-plus dealers in total. This acquisition marks the next iteration of our defined and successful M&A strategy. Maverick fits squarely within this strategic model, providing growth opportunities and characteristics for easy integration into our company. As we add Maverick, we remain focused on quality and output to grow and capture market share. As we saw with Cobalt and Pursuit, Maverick presents an amazing opportunity as we leverage the strength of both teams to continue to deliver innovative boats to our customers while driving long-term growth and profitability for our shareholders. I will turn the call back over to Wayne to give a financial summary of the transaction.

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

Thanks, Jack. I'm going to take a few minutes and walk you through the basic financial implications of the transaction. The purchase price for Maverick was $150 million, which was funded with cash on hand and borrowings under Malibu's existing credit facility. In connection with the acquisition, Malibu added a $25 million incremental term loan facility and increased the available borrowing capacity under its revolving credit facility by $50 million to $170 million. In terms of size, for the trailing 12 months ended June 30, 2020, Maverick Boat Group generated approximately $120 million in revenue. As we all know, calendar year 2020 brought about unprecedented times, including complete production shutdowns ranging from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the company and industry. In addition, we saw a return to tremendous demand for marine products once the world began to open back up last summer.

As a result, based on both pre-COVID and budgeted fiscal 2021 levels, the multiple paid was squarely in line with our typical ranges of between seven and a half and eight times EBITDA. As Jack said, Maverick adds complementary brands to our lineup that further diversify and strengthen our product offering, particularly as it relates to boats under 28 ft. The transaction closed December 31st, which will result in Malibu recognizing the results of Maverick's operating performance for all of calendar year 2021. Maverick will be accretive day one, excluding the impacts of purchase accounting acquisition costs. With that, I'll turn it back over to Jack for some closing comments.

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Thank you, Wayne. This acquisition marks an important evolution for Malibu as a growth company. It advances our strategy to further expand our portfolio of premium brands, allowing us to serve additional customers in new and expanding markets. To that point, its highly complementary nature to Pursuit allows us to reel in additional boating enthusiasts, ultimately expanding our customer base and increasing upgrade opportunities. We are excited to integrate Maverick into the Malibu family and are confident in our ability to do so seamlessly. As always, we will look to innovate with Maverick as we have with Malibu, Cobalt, and Pursuit, and are excited to have you join us on this journey. We would now like to open up the call to questions. Operator?

Operator

Thank you. To ask a question, you'll need to press star one on your telephone. To withdraw yourself from the queue, press the pound key. Again, to ask a question, press star one. Our first question comes from Craig Kennison with Baird. Your line is open. Craig, your line is open. Please check your mute button.

Craig Kennison
Director of Research Operations and Senior Research Analyst, Baird

Sorry, hopped on late here. Could you comment on the margin profile of the business?

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

Yeah, Craig, we're not going to disclose full financials, but I would tell you the EBITDA margin profile of the business is in the low to mid-teen range, a little bit higher than what we've seen with other businesses, but below our existing profile.

Craig Kennison
Director of Research Operations and Senior Research Analyst, Baird

That helps. And then, as you think about the opportunity here, would you say you're more excited about maybe revenue growth potential, or are there cost synergies that excite you?

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Yeah, this is not really a cost synergy scenario for us. There will be some over time, especially being closer to Pursuit, but we'll continue to operate Maverick separately. We're most excited about the revenue opportunities, the product distribution that we're going to be able to attain, and I think just general improvement that we normally bring to companies.

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

To put that into context in terms of the revenue opportunity, Craig, ultimately, this business has been run and had some of the highest turns that they see in the industry when you talk to industry players, and so it's really underfed the market historically. The family that owned it was very conservative, and we really liked the opportunity to grow it, and you would probably decrease those turns a little bit by getting more inventory out there and getting more share.

Craig Kennison
Director of Research Operations and Senior Research Analyst, Baird

Finally, when you think about their backlog in the context of 2020 and the strong demand we had, is it looking similar to what we've seen in other boat categories where there's just a huge backlog?

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Yeah, their backlog is off the charts. It's the strongest backlog we've seen in the entire industry. So we have a very long runway, and it's very similar to Pursuit in that when we acquired Pursuit, we knew that we had to put inventory in the channel. It's absolutely this scenario and probably even more so.

Craig Kennison
Director of Research Operations and Senior Research Analyst, Baird

Great. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Brett Andress with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Brett Andress
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, KeyBanc Capital Markets

Hey, good morning. So it sounds like Maverick runs at higher turns. Just any way to frame up maybe where their channel inventories are today and how much of that backlog is retail sold versus dealer sold?

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

In terms of inventories, at the end of the calendar year, their inventories were down 75%. So you're measuring it in the low single-digit weeks right now in terms of on-hand at dealers. So it's a really low inventory position in the field. In terms of retail sold, I don't know, Jack.

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

It's very high.

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

Don't know the exact number, Brett, but it's very high.

Brett Andress
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, KeyBanc Capital Markets

Got it. Okay. And then just any color on the network overlap, what opportunities do you have there?

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

I think between Maverick and Pursuit, there's definitely network overlap as we're able to get more and more product out into the channel. Currently, there are probably a half dozen to a dozen dealers that are somewhat common, and we'll expand that over time because it is so complementary. One of the things that I'll point out is that because of the size range of Maverick and the price range of Maverick, it's very, very similar to the Malibu Axis model. So you have a scenario here where you have a product group in Pursuit that indexes higher from a foot length and a price point of view, and Maverick indexes lower. So we're really excited about the opportunity to offer the full range of product.

Brett Andress
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, KeyBanc Capital Markets

Got it. And then just last one quickly, just in terms of funding, can you give us any update on where your cash on hand was December 31st?

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

I think pro forma closing net debt is, I want to say, just south of $150 million. So there was about $90 million of additional funding drawn either through Revolver or the incremental term loan, and we had just under $90 million of cash.

Brett Andress
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, KeyBanc Capital Markets

Thanks, guys. Happy New Year.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Mike Swartz with Truist Securities. Your line is open.

Mike Swartz
Director of Equity Research, Truist Securities

Hey, good morning, guys. Just in terms of the opportunity for this business, and I think you framed it as more of a revenue opportunity, where do you think margins can get to? Because I know historically you've said Pursuit, Cobalt, and obviously your legacy Malibu business, you were targeting a 20% EBITDA margin for each of those. Is this a similar story here, or will this just run at a lower margin level than those businesses over time?

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Yeah, over time it will be at the same margin level. I mean, that's our goal. And we think that with the opportunities that we have, with the efficiencies that we can generate, more new product and more product out in the market that we'll get there. And it's very similar as we think about a Cobalt or we think about a Pursuit. We take a company like that, we invest in it, we improve the operations to the extent that we can, and we see that gradual build toward that 20%. And we're very confident that will happen with Maverick.

Mike Swartz
Director of Equity Research, Truist Securities

Okay. And then just any capital investment to speak of with this? I know Pursuit was obviously a new facility, a large capital investment there. Is there anything to speak of with Maverick?

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Yeah, we're going to look at a couple of things. One will be there next week, and we'll be getting a good idea more from a machinery and equipment aspect what we need to invest in to make it less labor-intensive and add to the margin naturally. But the second thing, very similar to Pursuit, is to get the product out into the market that we need and fulfill that backlog. We're going to need to produce more boats. Now, we think that we'll be able to do that incrementally within the existing footprint that we have, but we also plan to take a similar view, and there is land, and so we will probably look at over the next six to 12 months adding square footage to Maverick.

Mike Swartz
Director of Equity Research, Truist Securities

Okay, great. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Joe Altobello with Raymond James. Your line is open.

Joe Altobello
Equity Research Analyst, Raymond James

Great. Hey, guys. Good morning.

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

Good morning.

Joe Altobello
Equity Research Analyst, Raymond James

Just wanted to follow up on Mike's last question about the capacity expansion. It looks like Maverick was already in the process of expanding one of their facilities. What's the timing on that? And it sounds like you guys foresee the potential for additional capacity expansion beyond that.

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Yeah. So in 2018, Maverick added another building. The initial intent of that building was to be phase one of two phases equal sizes. So they did a fantastic job of setting it up for that next phase or that next building adding about the same square footage. So that's what we'll be looking at doing on that property. And I would anticipate we will start that process very quickly.

Joe Altobello
Equity Research Analyst, Raymond James

Okay. And it looks like Maverick right now has a little over 70 dealers. I guess first, where are they located? Are they concentrated geographically? And how many dealers do you see eventually or potentially getting into?

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Again, very similar to Pursuit. I think we'll expand that over time. They are concentrated in the Southeast, in the Northeast, a little bit in the Mid-Atlantic, some in the Great Lakes. One aspect that they do have that's pretty exciting to us is they have a very good business with some of the boat clubs, and so that's an iteration for us that we hope to grow over time as well, but again, very similar to Pursuit. We think that we'll see that go west, and we don't know yet, but we believe that there will be opportunities to combine dealers in terms of they carry both a Maverick and a Pursuit and add to the dealer network that way as well.

Joe Altobello
Equity Research Analyst, Raymond James

Got it. One last one for me. With Pursuit and Cobalt, I think there were some tax benefits in terms of the acquisition. Are there any tax benefits with this deal?

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

There are not. It's an acquisition of C-Corp stock.

Joe Altobello
Equity Research Analyst, Raymond James

Okay. Great. Thank you, guys.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Gerrick Johnson with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Gerrick Johnson
Analyst, BMO Capital Markets

Great. Thanks. I just wanted to jump on the back of Mike's question about CapEx. Is there any way you can quantify the CapEx that will be added to 2021 and the run rate on an annual fiscal year basis? And then also, who's top of mind in terms of competitors in the bay and flats boat market? That's one that we're probably less familiar with versus the offshore market. Thanks.

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

Yeah. So in terms of CapEx, in fiscal 2021, any incremental in fiscal 2021 is probably relatively modest versus what we're expecting for the year. In quantifying that for folks, that new facility that came online in 2019 timeframe was a little over 100,000 sq ft, which is about half the size of the Pursuit facility that we just did. So if we were doubling the facility of that size, you'd be adding a little over 100,000 sq ft. And so probably the rough justice in early numbers would be about half the capital need that we committed on the Pursuit addition. In terms of incremental CapEx, prospectively on an ongoing basis from a maintenance perspective, our general rule of thumb is about 3% of sales.

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Yeah, and on the bay boats, the flats competitors, Gerrick is going to be Sea Hunt, NauticStar, Robalo. Those are going to be the primaries, and there will be some others as well.

Gerrick Johnson
Analyst, BMO Capital Markets

Okay. And then lastly, can you just talk about prior ownership, a family-run business, I guess? Was there private equity involved? Maybe a little bit of history on a Maverick ownership.

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Yeah. The company was owned by Scott Deal and his family. Scott was a majority, and he started it in 1984. I've known Scott for a long period of time. We served on the board of the IBBI. I think a great deal of Scott. I think a great deal of Maverick. We actually began talking to them back in early 2019, and we had just closed Pursuit. So for us, it was probably not the right time with everything that we had to do, but we kept the conversation going. Scott's run a great business. And like a lot of founders, he's been very frugal. He's made sure that he's made money during the good times and the bad times. And like the previous ownership, Scott is going to stay with us, and he'll have a role in the company.

And also, very similar to the model that we've deployed at Cobalt and at Pursuit, the people are the most important thing. And they are the ones that are building the boats and getting the product out to the dealers for the end consumer. And so our intent is to keep every single person, provide opportunities, and provide growth for those people at Maverick.

Wayne Wilson
CFO, Malibu Boats

Okay. Great. Thank you, Jack.

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Alex Maroccia with Berenberg. Your line is open.

Alex Maroccia
Equity Research Analyst, Berenberg

Morning, guys. Can you give us a sense of Maverick's customer profile, especially where it's competing against Pursuit with Pathfinder and Cobia?

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

On the Pathfinder side, which is a bay boat, it really does not compete against Pursuit. That's one of the attractive features for us. We had thought about on Pursuit going into bay boat versus the build versus buy scenario that gets us there immediately. Cobia is very complementary to Pursuit. If you think about a Pursuit, it's a larger boat that's going to have more accoutrements on it. The price point is going to be higher. And given that Pursuit ranges from anywhere from 23 to 42 ft, that ASP for Pursuit is about $250,000. On Cobia, with a lower foot length, with the less accoutrements, more of the Axis type model, it's $96,000 ASP. So this is going to be a highly complementary product to Pursuit, not competitive.

Alex Maroccia
Equity Research Analyst, Berenberg

Got it. That's helpful. And then on the dealer financing side, is there anything we should think of that's a bit different for Maverick's dealers versus what you're experiencing currently?

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

No, not at all. I mean, they're dealing with Wells Fargo, just like all of our other companies are, and then their dealers, if they're not dealing with a Wells Fargo, they may have local financing.

Alex Maroccia
Equity Research Analyst, Berenberg

Got it. All right. That's all I got. Thanks, guys.

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. And there's no other questions in the queue. I'd like to send a call back to Mr. Jack Springer for any closing remarks.

Jack Springer
CEO, Malibu Boats

All right. Thank you very much for joining us today as we've shared this exciting news. And we want to thank you also for your continued support. Have a great day.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect, everyone. Have a great day.

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