EBR finally sold, may make a comeback
After several months of trying to find a buyer for the bankrupt Erik Buell Racing, Liquid Asset Partners has bought the company at the final auction last week. LAP is a company that specializes in the sale of assets and intellectual property of companies that come up for auction. While initially, everyone was worried that LAP winning the auction would mean the end of EBR, there seems to be hope.
LAP has announced that it intends to run a two part sale process of EBR so that there is a chance for the company to be revived. It intends to find a new buyer who will be capable of continuing the manufacturing of the EBR motorcycles.
As the first step, they are looking for someone with the financial and administrative capabilities to do this. The second part will involve the sale of the excess assets of EBR so that the new owner will be able to get the company back on track without much difficulty.
Bill Melvin, CEO of LAP said in a press release, "I believe Erik Buell Racing (EBR) has established themselves as one of the premier motorcycle manufacturers in the world and has strong potential as a viable business. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on research and design to arrive at the EBR RS, RX, and SX platforms, which have proven themselves on the racing circuit to be state of the art and in dealer sales to be in high demand. Their bikes, out of the box, can go head to head with the top Italian race bikes. Our sale process will enable the proper exposure of the company and price flexibility that may better fit a new owner to move forward with operations. We believe any plan needs to include the support of the great team of employees of EBR. We will be working closely with management to formulate the plan. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and any interested parties or investors should contact us immediately."
Erik Buell Racing was formed by Erik Buell after the Buell Motorcycle Company was closed down by parent company Harley-Davidson in 2009. In 2010, Erik Buell started EBR himself and started manufacturing EBR motorcycles with the signature rim-brake up front. EBR even had a strategic partnership with Hero MotoCorp and a lot of their inputs can be seen in the HX 250R which was showcased at the last Auto Expo. However, EBR ran into financial troubles and had to file for bankruptcy in mid-2015. Hero managed to buy EBR's consulting business, but the manufacturing business did not find a buyer until now. With the auction finally done, we hope that LAP can find a buyer soon and get the motorcycle company back on track as soon as possible.