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Boat retailer nets big addition

MarineMax is moving into billion-dollar territory with its acquisition of Surfside-3 Marina, a private Northeast company.

By HELEN HUNTLEY
Published April 4, 2006

CLEARWATER - Already the nation's largest boat retailer, MarineMax Inc. has extended its reach into the Northeast with its largest acquisition.

The Clearwater company said Monday it is buying Surfside-3 Marina Inc. for $47.3-million in cash and stock.

The private Surfside owns or operates marinas and dealerships and provides services through affiliates in 15 locations in New York, Connecticut, Maryland and Rhode Island.

"What it does for us more than any other thing is it gives us a chance to improve what we can do for our customers," said chief executive William McGill Jr. "Many customers in Florida in the wintertime are out of Connecticut and New York."

MarineMax now has more locations to serve them close to home and along the way as they travel, he said.

McGill said he had discussed the acquisition with Surfside's founders for years, but the timing was never right.

"We finally got the stars aligned and everything made sense," he said.

MarineMax reported $947-million in revenue last fiscal year, but the company is moving into billion-dollar territory.

The acquisition of Surfside, with $140-million in revenue, and January's acquisition of the Port Arrowhead Group, with more than $70-million in annual revenue, will make MarineMax one of the Tampa Bay area's largest public companies.

MarineMax is paying $24.8-million in cash and 665,000 company shares for Surfside. Monday, those shares closed at $33.90 each, up 38 cents in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The transaction is expected to add about 10 to 12 cents a share to MarineMax's annual earnings.

MarineMax primarily sells boats made by Brunswick, including brands such as Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Meridian and Hatteras. The new boats it sold last fiscal year had an average sales price of $110,000.

Not including the Surfside deal , the company has 85 retail locations in 21 states.

--Helen Huntley can be reached at hhuntley@sptimes.com or 727 893-8230.

[Last modified April 4, 2006, 07:20:39]