Could this be the end of Roadtrek???

[RVJE]

Thor Drops North America Operations from Erwin Hymer Deal — Future of Roadtrek Unclear | RV Miles

[markopolo]

Carving EHGNA out of the EHG/Thor deal seemed likely after Greg Gerber's report. I guessed that Greg's info could have come from a source connected to Thor.

The Roadtrek brand would still have value. Its continuance might depend on if there is debt involved and what actions creditors take.

Does anyone know who owns the Kitchener factory today? I seem to recall that IOP originally leased it from Jeff (previous chairman) but I don't know if they eventually purchased it or if EHGNA ending up owning it.

If that facility is still leased then there would be an incentive/urgency to have a tenant and what better tenant than a Class B van builder.

[ClassB4Me]

Wonder if the EHG can do the Old GM / New GM trick and dump the liabilities, lawsuits, and junk into EHG NA and proceed with the Thor acquisition of EHG sans EHG NA.

Using this strategy EHG NA can file for relief and all the Roadtrek employees will reapply for their jobs as Thor employees (under different employment terms).

The Thor deal is too big to have to wait out all the audit and litigation issues at Roadtrek. The former CEO of EHG NA appears to want to fight any impression of wrongdoing on his part and restore his good name.

[markopolo]

I don't see much reason for Thor to be interested in EHGNA going forward. The EHG deal seems to be proceeding without EHGNA.

If EHGNA is not producing any units now then Thor will pick up some Class B market share. It's an unexpected win for them I think.

[booster]

Thor probably has a lot of money already invested in this whole process, so things would probably need to be pretty ugly to make them walk away and lose it all, and there may, or may not, be penalties.



If Thor does bail on the North America part of Hymer, it leaves some pretty interesting possibilities. Since we don't really know any details of how the original Roadtrek purchase and the early forcing out of the Jeff H transpired, it may, or may not, be a possible a repurchase of Roadtrek by the Hanemaayer family could happen. This is not unheard of when things like this transpire. Jeff would probably be more likely to be able to find money than other individuals, but probably not as much as an established RV manufacturer would be able to raise.


The question of who owns the buildings was brought up earlier and is very valid. If Roatrek owns them clear, they are an asset, if they own them with huge financing they are a liability. If they are leased, it might be either. We also don't know how much debt they are carrying.



I think the biggest question is what this is going to do to Roadtrek's reputation with the public. I am sure some of the "fan" crowd will not change, but new customers certainly might. Whatever else Hammill was or wasn't, he was a master at using customers as promoters and that will likely go away for the most part. Probably one of the biggest reputational threats would be if Roadtrek is not able to honor the long warranties for existing customers, which will likely be very expensive based on the high problem rates we hear about. Same could be true if they have to recall lots of units for the already in process safety violation issues.


I will likely be a very rocky road ahead for Roadtrek, if they survive without being liquidated.


If all of this was really caused by 3 greedy people and their cohorts, it is really a sad thing.

[Viperml]

If Hymer can prove the books were cooked when they bought it from Industrial Opportunity Partners, LLC in 2016 then Hymer has legal options against Industrial Opportunity Partners, LLC. If Hymer cannot then its a sure bet they will dump it off to the first bidder for it or shut it all down forever. Thor already announced Roadtrek is not part of the purchase so there is no way thor/hymer are keeping it. The roadtrek brand is going to waste in ruin like the 3 crooks that ran it unless someone comes through and buys it.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by booster

.... If all of this was really caused by 3 greedy people and their cohorts, it is really a sad thing.

You essentially just described Enron. I lived through a personal version of Enron (an immediate family member was employed there). I keep waiting for the news media to draw the obvious comparison, but they are probably waiting for corroboration of the allegations before running with the story.

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by RVJE

Thor Drops North America Operations from Erwin Hymer Deal — Future of Roadtrek Unclear | RV Miles

This includes the actual Thor press release...

https://www.marketwatch.com/press-re...ion-2019-01-21

[wincrasher]

Yes, I believe it is. Most likely a lot of debt now rests on Roadtrek. Turmoil with suppliers and their dealers that probably is in gridlock until resolved by the courts. I expect a bankruptcy filing any day now.

If there are no assets to salvage, then it's just an exercise of splitting up the remaining money in accounts. If Hymer was smart, they had extracted the IP rights from Roadtrek and dumped a bunch of debt onto it.

The only silver lining may be they won't have to deal with a bunch of shareholder lawsuits - only the creditors, since they are privately held.

I'd expect that the brand "Roadtrek" will be the only real asset that could be sold or auctioned off.

[ClassB4Me]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

This includes the actual Thor press release...

https://www.marketwatch.com/press-re...ion-2019-01-21

Given the need to make these changes to make the deal happen, I suspect one or more people are going to jail.

The EHG trusted Roadtrek leadership and let the CEO stay in his leadership role after the acquisition when others thought it would be the perfect time to make a fresh start. I guess the auditors are there to determine how corrupt and how deep the stealing /grifting extends within Roadtrek.

It would be criminal if the employees in Kitchener have to pay the ultimate price and lose their jobs while this plays out. I hope the workers don't wind up being collateral damage.

The EHG has done many acquisitions without controversy and it is sad the scandal occurs when dealing with a NA company.

[gregmchugh]

More details...

https://roadtreking.com/roadtrek-hymer-scandal/

[booster]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

More details...

https://roadtreking.com/roadtrek-hymer-scandal/

Kudos to Wendlund for taking this head on and explaining his position in it all. It does appear he has been able to get a bit more information than others, with the Stratton stuff probably being the most significant.

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by booster

Kudos to Wendlund for taking this head on and explaining his position in it all. It does appear he has been able to get a bit more information than others, with the Stratton stuff probably being the most significant.

Yes, he is reverting to his days as an investigative journalist and it was a good report...

It will be interesting to see which people in management profited and which knew about the financial shenanigans and didn’t do anything to stop it.

[ClassB4Me]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

More details...

https://roadtreking.com/roadtrek-hymer-scandal/

Thanks for the updates. Initial stories described the EHG NA CEO being fired but the EHG press release only speak of suspensions.

Maybe the EHG NA CEO was 'duped' by long-term Roadtrek (bad actor) employees who were messing with the books and he knew nothing about it.

Maybe he is helping the auditors discover how this happen. It must be a recent occurrence or the EWG auditors would have caught this several years ago before the acquisition.

[booster]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

Yes, he is reverting to his days as an investigative journalist and it was a good report...

It will be interesting to see which people in management profited and which knew about the financial shenanigans and didn’t do anything to stop it.

It makes one wonder if it was a mere coincidence that Hammill was out sick on the day it all went down.\

[wincrasher]

Mike has adeptly positioned himself as seemingly impartial, yet a sympathetic voice in this. I expect in the coming days he will have an exclusive interview with Hammill to tell his "real" story.

It's all pretty laughable considering his substantial conflict of interest in being a paid friend of Roadtrek all these years. He should be distancing himself from the whole mess if you ask me.

[ClassB4Me]

Mr. Hammill has many devoted supporters. They will stick by him.



Mr. and Mrs. Campskunk (center) at the Hammill's dinner table. I think the kid knows something - the face does not lie.

[ClassB4Me]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

It's all pretty laughable considering his substantial conflict of interest in being a paid friend of Roadtrek all these years. He should be distancing himself from the whole mess if you ask me.

Interview Story Headline

I Was Duped - The CEO That Trusted Too Much

It's coming and will be full of 'emotion'

[wincrasher]

Originally Posted by ClassB4Me

Mr. Hammill has many devoted supporters. They will stick by him.



Mr. and Mrs. Campskunk (center) at the Hammill's dinner table. I think the kid knows something - the face does not lie.

Friends and supporters are many when you're passing out the illicit cash. See how many stick around when the money isn't flowing.

[wincrasher]

Originally Posted by ClassB4Me

Interview Story Headline

I Was Duped - The CEO That Trusted Too Much

It's coming and will be full of 'emotion'

Hmmm.....I sense a plot line coming together for a Lifetime movie of the week. Needs a woman done wrong though, becoming a big old misunderstanding, so it can be resolved and the boy win back the girl's heart.