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West Marine Is Acquired by Private Equity Firm L Catterton

Private equity firm L Catterton will acquire California-based retailer West Marine from Monomoy Capital Partners.

The companies announced the acquisition in separate statements today, which L Catterton stated is expected to close in May 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. The terms of the transaction, however, were not disclosed.

West Marine, which was established in 1968, has 237 brick-and-mortar locations across 38 states and Puerto Rico, as well as two e-commerce platforms for its base of domestic, international and professional customers. The retailer caters to the boating, fishing, sailing and watersports markets, and carries footwear from industry leaders including Columbia, OluKai, Teva and others.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with L Catterton in the next phase of growth for West Marine. The L Catterton team brings invaluable consumer, brand building and digital expansion expertise to help us accelerate our growth plans,” West Marine CEO Ken Seipel said in a statement. “In partnership, we look forward to enhancing our digital capabilities and elevating our consumer experience to not only provide the broadest product offering in the industry, but also to deliver the most comprehensive and rewarding consumer experience no matter where or how our boaters choose to engage with us. We look forward to our partnership with L Catterton.”

Other active-minded companies L Catterton has invested in include Peloton, Pinarello and Heartland RV.

“The U.S. marine aftermarket industry is a fundamentally attractive category benefiting from favorable consumer tailwinds including long-term growth in boating for leisure and time spent with family, higher focus on outdoor lifestyle activities including water sports and fishing and the rise of boat-sharing clubs bringing more people into the category,” L Catterton partner Matt Lischick said in a statement. “We expect the aftermarket to continue its consistent secular growth based on the growing installed boat base and rising boating participation. West Marine stands out as the leader in the category and we look forward to partnering with Ken and his proven leadership team to further build the Company’s authority as the go-to, consumer-centric marine aftermarket player.”

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