MarineMax bid a ‘viable path forward’
MarineMax owns superyacht brands Fraser Yachts and Northrop & Johnson.
MarineMax should engage with Donerail’s recent acquisition bid as well as running “strategic alternatives” to maximise shareholder value, according to top-10 shareholder Levin Capital.
Activist investor Donerail has offered to buy the US retail dealership giant for about $1.1bn, significantly higher than its $661m stock market capitalisation.
The sum of MarineMax’s parts is “very, very valuable” and the $35 per share all-cash offer represents a viable path forward, says Levin’s president Evan Ratner.
“I’m not sure if Donerail is the right owner or someone else is but our goal is to maximise shareholder value for all shareholders,” Ratner told Superyacht Investor.
“We want to make everyone aware there is real value to be had here.”
The New York-based Levin Capital is a long-time investor in MarineMax, which also owns IGY Marinas and superyacht brands Fraser Yachts and Northrop & Johnson.
Ratner describes IGY, with 24 superyacht facilities in 14 countries, as a “trophy asset”. MarineMax, under CEO and president W. Brett McGill, acquired the marina business in 2023.
“There is a lot of interest around IGY,” he adds. “They paid $480m for IGY and it’s worth at least 20% now, maybe more.
“If you’re a savvy person in the boating world you can clearly understand the value proposition.”
Ratner referenced Blackstone’s acquisition of Safe Harbor Marinas, which operates 138 facilities across the US and Puerto Rico, for $5.65bn in February 2025.
“It’s not the sexy crown jewel marinas you have with IGY, real marquee locations which are probably worth $700-800m to $1.1bn so that’s worth $35-50 a share just on its own.
“Then you can bundle in the superyacht service business … there’s real value that they’re not really penetrating. It’s not really appreciated by the market.”
In 2024, OneWater Marine offered to pay $40 a share in cash to acquire MarineMax in a deal valued at $2.5bn. Private equity firm Island Capital Group (ICG) also offered to buy the yachting and marina business for $480m. Both bids were rejected.
“What we want is a fair process that produces value for the shareholders, where the management is not resisting the realisation of shareholder value,” said John Levin, CEO, Levin Capital.
“They should let the investment bankers run a full process on who wants to buy what, at what price. It will produce multiple bidders.”
He suggests the MarineMax business is “complicated” given a sizeable number of the domestic US marinas are related to boat sales because of the adjacent real estate. But he says the “potential value is positively worth more than the present price”.
Ratner adds: “We want the board to credibly realise the walls are closing in and that they have to take action. No deal may be an option but it is probably not going to create the most value. There is one suitor here and there are probably more behind that.”
Levin Capital says it has conveyed its feedback to MarineMax’s board and will “support a timely, well-run review of strategic alternatives”. “We’re just exerting additional pressure,” adds Ratner.
In response to Donerail’s offer, MarineMax said it will “carefully review and evaluate the indication of interest” as it decides the best course of action for stakeholders.
