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(Middlebury, Indiana) PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Coachmen Industries, Inc. (NYSE:COA) has agreed to sell its recreational vehicle business to Elkhart, Indiana-based Forest River. According to a news release, Forest River will acquire most of the assets of Coachmen's RV Business, including its brands, product lines and central manufacturing operations in Middlebury.
The deal also includes a dealership in Elkhart. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"A wide range of rumors have swirled around our company in recent months," said Richard Lavers, CEO of Coachmen Industries, Inc. "During that time, we have consistently responded that we would make an announcement if and when there was something to say, but in the meantime, we were focused on managing through the worst economic crisis our country has endured in our lifetimes."
Forest River has reportedly agreed to offer continued employment to almost 85% of the RV Group employees in Indiana. Some will be able to interview with Forest River to explore career opportunities. Others will be transferred to the continuing operations of Coachmen Industries, Inc.
"For 44 years, Coachmen has been a leading and respected RV brand, employing thousands of dedicated and talented people in the communities where we have operated,” Lavers said. “Forest River is one of the largest and most profitable companies in the RV industry. The synergies of these two combined RV businesses are tremendous.”
"With this transaction, we secure the future for this proud brand, and the employees of our RV Group,” he added. “This announcement will also end the speculation over whether Coachmen itself will survive these extraordinarily difficult times, and preserve the jobs of our employee base, in both our RV and housing segments.
Other key points of the announcement include:
*Coachmen Industries headquarters will remain in the Middlebury/Elkhart area;
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*The company will emerge from this transaction as a systems-built housing company with a growing specialty vehicle business and will retain the ARBOC Mobility bus unveiled earlier this year.
“We will be financially sound with sufficient cash liquidity to not just survive, but to build our profitable housing businesses and continue our diversification into the bus and specialty vehicle transportation industries,” Lavers said.
The deal is subject to shareholder approval, which the company expects to seek in December. The Board of Directors of Coachmen Industries, Inc. has set November 25, 2008 as the Record date for the Special Shareholder meeting. The actual Special Shareholder meeting is expected to be held as soon as practical after the Coachmen's proxy statement clears the SEC. The Company will file the preliminary proxy statement with the SEC as quickly as it can.
In addition to its RV division, Coachmen is one of America's leading manufacturers of systems-built homes and commercial buildings, with prominent subsidiaries in each industry. The Company's well-known RV brand names include COACHMEN, GEORGIE BOY, SPORTSCOACH and VIKING. Through ALL AMERICAN HOMES(R) and MOD-U-KRAF(R), Coachmen is one of the nation's largest producers of systems-built homes, and also a major builder of commercial structures with its ALL AMERICAN BUILDING SYSTEMS(TM) products.
For more information on Coachmen Industries visit http://www.coachmen.com/. For more information on Forest River visit http://www.forestriverinc.com/
