So where are all the buyers for Roadtrek?

[wincrasher]

So where are all these supposed interesting parties to buy Roadtrek and restart operations?

Could it be that many of us were right and there simply aren't any?

Time should be up now and move to liquidation I would think.

[markopolo]

Looks like deadline for bids is April 3, 2019 - https://www.alvarezandmarsal.com/con...tion-materials

[mumkin]

There are 135 pages in that report... some weekend reading.

[booster]

I really wouldn't expect potential buyers to let on that they are bidding, that would be foolish. We won't know until the end date if there are bidders, or not, and then we will see where it all goes from there.

[gregmchugh]

It appears that there are those who are gnawing at the bit to get the opportunity to dance on the grave of Roadtrek, can’t wait to say “I Told You So” ...

[BillsPaseo]

The report says there are 18 interested parties, but who knows how many of those will bid, and what their intent is if they win...

[Davydd]

I'm not gnawing at the the bit when over $6 million is owed to several unsecured creditors named Mercedes Benz.

Even Mike Wendland is out over $13,000 dollars. He knows it and quickly threw Roadtrek under the bus.

Fat chance with a tarnished brand name. I think they will be turkey vulture pickings piece meal for what ever the receivership can get.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by BillsPaseo

The report says there are 18 interested parties, but who knows how many of those will bid, and what their intent is if they win...

I missed that information... do you have a page number.

BTW... numbers in the report of debts are not updated, but it does describe that MB has taken possession of all of the unconverted Sprinters. Also Beaver Motors has been able to take possession of all of theirs too. (Promaster supplier I believe)

It started out with a long list of law firms involved in things and I noted that one was listed as Jeff Hanamayer's lawyers.

There was a phenomenally confusing description of the giant web of Hymer LLC's - a half dozen or more - involved piecemealing the whole process into a likely intentionally opaque system.

[BillsPaseo]

Originally Posted by mumkin

I missed that information... do you have a page number.

BTW... numbers in the report of debts are not updated, but it does describe that MB has taken possession of all of the unconverted Sprinters. Also Beaver Motors has been able to take possession of all of theirs too. (Promaster supplier I believe)

It started out with a long list of law firms involved in things and I noted that one was listed as Jeff Hanamayer's lawyers.

There was a phenomenally confusing description of the giant web of Hymer LLC's - a half dozen or more - involved piecemealing the whole process into a likely intentionally opaque system.

On page 4:

18.As at March 15, 2019, 18 interested parties have executed CAs and been provided access to the Data Room;

[mumkin]

Thanks for the page BillsPaseo

Originally Posted by Davydd

Fat chance with a tarnished brand name. I think they will be turkey vulture pickings piece meal for what ever the receivership can get.

Perhaps, but from all the evidence shown so far, it should not be Roadtrek's name that should be tarnished, but Hymer. They are the ones that swept in and bought Roadtrek, expanded at a ridiculous pace, spending money like a bunch of Vegas drunks... and piled it all into Roadtrek. That was followed by them slinking into the US, "selling" EHGNA to an American LLC... which is nothing but the Hymer family. Selling for Big Bucks their European company to Thor... money from which evaporated into the EU. (Minus a few million for the last payroll of the 900 or so employees that they had just screwed royally)

It is apparent that Roadtrek's accounting system left a great deal to be desired, but why did Hymer not step in and fix that? Instead they added insult to injury by leasing 4 new buildings, 3 of them new factories (?), 5 new product lines, 10 or more new models, (mostly competing with Roadtrek), all done on borrowed money... the debt dumped into Roadtrek... as they waltzed off with Thor... this act seemingly coordinated between the two of them in order for both of them to escape liabilities.

Meanwhile not even a mention of of any possible charges against those removed executives. Apparently no evidence of anything other than crappy record keeping and inflated sales numbers to look good.

[avanti]

I am still betting that when the dust settles, Thor will be selling rigs labelled "RoadTrek". It is the only brand of B-van that most people have ever heard of.

[gregmchugh]

Latest report in the news...

https://www.therecord.com/news-story...ed-next-month/

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Thanks for the page BillsPaseo


Perhaps, but from all the evidence shown so far, it should not be Roadtrek's name that should be tarnished, but Hymer. They are the ones that swept in and bought Roadtrek, expanded at a ridiculous pace, spending money like a bunch of Vegas drunks... and piled it all into Roadtrek. That was followed by them slinking into the US, "selling" EHGNA to an American LLC... which is nothing but the Hymer family. Selling for Big Bucks their European company to Thor... money from which evaporated into the EU. (Minus a few million for the last payroll of the 900 or so employees that they had just screwed royally)

It is apparent that Roadtrek's accounting system left a great deal to be desired, but why did Hymer not step in and fix that? Instead they added insult to injury by leasing 4 new buildings, 3 of them new factories (?), 5 new product lines, 10 or more new models, (mostly competing with Roadtrek), all done on borrowed money... the debt dumped into Roadtrek... as they waltzed off with Thor... this act seemingly coordinated between the two of them in order for both of them to escape liabilities.

Meanwhile not even a mention of of any possible charges against those removed executives. Apparently no evidence of anything other than crappy record keeping and inflated sales numbers to look good.

It probably has been going on since the holding group bought Roadtrek in 2011. Hymer was just a casualty along the way in not doing due diligence. Hymer was exalted by many Europhiles believing grass is greener across the pond. Turns out they were a second generation family looking to cash out. Trust fund babies as it is termed here. Roadtrek is what will be remembered.

[GeorgeRa]

Bigfoot RV came back from its demise in 2008 and brought quality at reasonable cost back. Focused on campers and trailers only with full winter capability of 2500 series. Bigfoot 4 season RV with a new truck will cost $90K ($50K truck + $40K camper), but, is not going to be stealthy nor have a Li package.
https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/.../?singlepage=1
Perhaps Roadtrek will follow this example.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by Davydd

It probably has been going on since the holding group bought Roadtrek in 2011. Hymer was just a casualty along the way in not doing due diligence. Hymer was exalted by many Europhiles believing grass is greener across the pond. Turns out they were a second generation family looking to cash out. Trust fund babies as it is termed here. Roadtrek is what will be remembered.

Hymer was no casualty. They bought a company with slipshod accounting... apparently didn't even bother to do a decent audit that should have caught it... and piled up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of debt in 2-3 years. And dumped it into Roadtrek... and left. Unfortunately the laws are written for big business to be able to do such. Personally I think their actions were significantly more criminal than the cooked sales numbers.

The only thing worse than no Roadtrek would be a Thor Roadtrek. Worse quality and worse warranty care...

[wincrasher]

LOL. I find it hilarious some who want to gloss over the crimes committed by JH and his crew. Clearly Hymer acted and put in plans based on the rosey outlook created by JH's numbers. Clearly they trusted their Canadian counterparts. Clearly they gave them a free hand to manage the business instead of being micromanagers.

There is certainly no evidence that Hymer made acquisitions, leased buildings, etc. without JH's involvement. He wouldn't deny that growing the business was also his goal and he was 100% behind it. It was aggressive growth, but it wasn't reckless.

I agree with the above that Thor is the likely buyer for the Roadtrek branding. All these bidders are most likely picking off the pieces they want. Surprised to hear that suppliers were able to recover their vans - generally that kind of thing doesn't happen in a bankruptcy - could be that those vans did not pass clear title to Roadtrek/Hymer yet, so the company did not own them. Doubtful that a buyer will emerge for the whole lot. Not out of the realm of possibility that someone could bid to do that - like pay $1 and assume some liabilities. We'll see how the Receiver responds to something like that. My view is they are already in the mode to collect max cash - so selling off pieces is just fine with them. They are under no edict to resurrect the business and put employees back to work. It will clearly be a spreadsheet game to max the return to the creditors.

Will I "dance on the grave"? Maybe a little. I'd rather dance at the conviction of JH and his crew. I don't think the market will miss them - their shamelessly experimenting on their customers, the incompetence of their dealer training nor their other shady business practices. It certainly won't miss the brazen contempt JH had for his customers as evidenced in the numerous threads on here and facebook.

[Gmbalogh]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

So where are all these supposed interesting parties to buy Roadtrek and restart operations?

Could it be that many of us were right and there simply aren't any?

Time should be up now and move to liquidation I would think.

The courts are scheduled to review all offers for the company in the first week of April. I would expect an announcement of the new owner by the middle of the month. The courts have maintained 35 employees from the company on staff so as to ease the restart by the new owner.

[Bobow]

I would like to see the name "Roadtrek" continue in some form. If I had millions to toss I would buy the name and produce classic Roadtrek models like my 1998 190.

It is easy to cook books as I have spent 50 plus years in the world of finance including auditing and found some pretty lame attempts at the practice. Someone dropped the ball for many years in the continuing Roadtrek saga.

btw, what does the title "Platinum Member" mean? Hove noticed posts running from 100 to 7,624 are Platinum Members. Just curious.

[Keyne]

Has JH and crew been charged with crimes? I read the rumors but didnt know if it actually proceeded to official charges. Any updates on that front?

[Kaypay]

Apparently you have JH convicted and in jail already, you forget in this country a person is innocent until proven guilty and no charges have been laid.