Australian boatbuilder Riviera Yachts announced that the company was sold to private ownership and officially exited receivership. Longhurst Marine Holdings Limited, a Queensland-based investment firm, purchased Riviera Yachts for an undisclosed amount.
Longhurst has offered employment to the majority of Riviera’s staff and contractors and has entered into a long-term lease for Riviera’s Coomera manufacturing facility.
“I have watched how the Riviera luxury boat brand has so emphatically endured the last four years of turbulent economic conditions,” Longhurst Marine Holdings managing director Rodney Longhurst commented.
“For the past 2 years the company has operated in receivership, and during this period local and international competition has also been particularly fierce,” Longhurst added. “The very strong loyalty that Riviera owners feel toward their boat and the company is truly to be admired. This culture cannot be created overnight and is the sum total of many contributing factors over the past 32 years.”
Wes Moxey, the former CEO of Riviera Yachts and a veteran of 26 years with Riviera, was asked to return immediately as CEO. After taking a 12-month sabbatical from the yachting industry, Moxey has spent the last 18 months involved in the development of a new line of limited-edition motoryachts called Belize Yachts.
SOURCE: Soundings
