California hedge fund makes $1.1B offer to buy MarineMax

A hedge fund and activist investor has made an all-cash offer to buy Clearwater-born superyacht service company MarineMax for $1.1 billion, the company confirmed Tuesday. 

Santa Monica-based Donerail Group, which already owns nearly 5% of MarineMax shares, has offered to buy the company for $35 per share, according to a release from the boat retailer. The company was trading for $30.64 a share when markets opened Tuesday. 

MarineMax, in a Tuesday morning release, says it will "carefully review and evaluate the indication of interest" from Donerail. 

The offer comes months after Donerail pressed MarineMax to make major changes in its operations, Reuters reports. Those changes range from replacing the CEO to selling the company due to “poor allocation of capital, flawed strategy and an inability to oversee financial matters.” 

MarineMax operates more than 120 locations worldwide, including more than 70 dealerships and 60 marina and storage facilities. Founded in 1998, the company is a recreational boat and yacht retailer, marina operator, and superyacht services company providing brokerage, financing, insurance and yacht maintenance services. It had $2.35 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, and a gross profit of $741.04 million. 

Donerail Group was founded in 2018 by Will Wyatt and Wes Calvert with a focus on “investing in and advising companies undergoing strategic transformation or navigating critical inflection points,” according to its website. 

Reuters also reports that Donerail Group may not be the only company interested in purchasing MarineMax, especially when it comes to its profitable marina business. Donerail’s offer comes shortly ahead of MarineMax’s annual meeting, scheduled for March 3, where shareholders will vote on the company’s board of directors, with three members including CEO Brett McGill standing for reelection. 

McGill is the son of MarineMax founder Bill McGill and took over in 2018. Since then he has sought to expand the company from a mainly retail operation to an integrated marine business, acquiring marina operator Island Global Yachting in 2022 and increasing MarineMax’s debt in the process, according to Reuters. 

According to Yahoo Finance, MarineMax’s share price is up 8% so far this year. However, over the past 12 months the stock has fallen 12%. It’s fallen 37% over the past five years while the S&P 500 index has gained 82%.