Brs taking over marine depot

[NowGlazeIT]

BRS wasn't bought out. They got an investment from a private investment firm.

I do use their carbon, but have used the new hydrocarbon and it seems good too. One of the few items I have to get there is carbon. :)

Nice same here, I gotta check out this hydro carbon you speak of

 

[rtparty]

You should get into politics, you've got the wordsmithing for it

Nope. Just talked to BRS directly about this. Ryan and Andrew still own BRS (from what I gathered) ;)

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Nope. Just talked to BRS directly about this. Ryan and Andrew still own BRS ;)

Noooooiiiiice

 

[rtparty]

Noooooiiiiice

I edited my post slightly right before you replied. Added a couple words is all

 

[reefinatl]

Nope. Just talked to BRS directly about this. Ryan and Andrew still own BRS (from what I gathered) ;)

Private investment is a buyout. You get loans from banks and you sell your business to private equity guys. Minority shares or a buyout none of us here can or will know.

 

[T-J]

Private investment is a buyout. You get loans from banks and you sell your business to private equity guys. Minority shares or a buyout none of us here can or will know.

Not completely true.

Where I work, we recently had a big private cash investment. Our CEO/founder is still the owner. We used the capital for purchasing equipment and a new building. Nothing else has changed. While I don't know all the details, I assume that the money was invested for a certain guaranteed return on that investment.

 

[reefinatl]

Not completely true.

Where I work, we recently had a big private cash investment. Our CEO/founder is still the owner. We used the capital for purchasing equipment and a new building. Nothing else has changed. While I don't know all the details, I assume that the money was invested for a certain guaranteed return on that investment.

He can be the CEO and run the business that is typical but you bet you're rear they own shares. That's how they get their cut and if things go south they can easily liquidate the assets, ie you and your job. You said yourself you don't know all the details, I'm telling you the details.

 

[T-J]

As much as I may enjoy BRS and their YouTube presence (and I really do! Especially Thomas lately), lack of competition is never a good thing. In an industry where many items are already pretty pricey, it's scary when choice is reduced even further.
The only thing that keeps certain things fair is MAP pricing.

 

[T-J]

He can be the CEO and run the business that is typical but you bet you're rear they own shares. That's how they get their cut and if things go south they can easily liquidate the assets, ie you and your job. You said yourself you don't know all the details, I'm telling you the details.

Owning shares and owning a majority of shares are two different things, no?

 

[reefinatl]

Owning shares and owning a majority of shares are two different things, no?

Truth, and I think I laid that out in the last sentence of statement you originally quoted.

Ultimately I think less competition is bad for us and really that's the issue at hand. BRS has always been fair on pricing and I think they have done well. Seeing MD get gobbled is still a bit upsetting though.

 

[stacksoner]

I agree man, this feels like monopoly

Politely, this is the lowest form criticism. Don't confuse a company that earned it's market share with one that's power-hungry, stifles competition, and can treat customers however they want bc they eliminated competitors. Amazon is a monopoly. They have made competition impossible for stores that sell various products on the internet.

How is BRS able to operate it's niche speciality aquarium gear shop online? You can buy Radion lights or Red Sea salt from 30 different online vendors. People CHOOSE BRS because they add value to the overall experience of reefing. Their procurement of products, educational videos, giveaways, rewards programs, marketing, promos, order turnaround time, friendly & generous customer service, consistency, and ability to meet/exceed expectations every time are just a few things that they do to EARN their customers.

 

[stacksoner]

You should get into politics, you've got the wordsmithing for it

They are two different things. The Lender gave them money in return for either equity (a percentage of the company) or in exchange for interest payments (like a loan).

This is what private equity firms do. They don't want to own any company outright. They just want to see their money grow

 

[TaylorPilot]

As much as I may enjoy BRS and their YouTube presence (and I really do! Especially Thomas lately), lack of competition is never a good thing. In an industry where many items are already pretty pricey, it's scary when choice is reduced even further.
The only thing that keeps certain things fair is MAP pricing.

MAP is only half of it...If they can buy it 30% cheaper than the competition, they can do things like offer free shipping on orders over x....a lot of times the barrier of entry for newcomer online vendors is the pricing scale...

 

[Spieg]

He can be the CEO and run the business that is typical but you bet you're rear they own shares. That's how they get their cut and if things go south they can easily liquidate the assets, ie you and your job. You said yourself you don't know all the details, I'm telling you the details.

Hope it wasn't Bain Capital or another borrow and bankrupt specialist.

 

[Silvas]

Nope. Just talked to BRS directly about this. Ryan and Andrew still own BRS (from what I gathered) ;)

I hope you're right, and I hope BRS is being forthcoming about it - not being a publicly traded company, they would be under no requirement to disclose who still holds equity in the company whether it be minor, significant, or majority stake... and there are plenty of reasons they may not want to disclose that majority ownership is now with a private equity group rather than the original founders. Ryan and Andrew could still hold a minority stake, and "they still own the company" is technically kinda true, if a bit weaselly.

I was looking for info on this earlier, and all the reports I was able to find on it kept waffling between saying investment in, and saying the sale... clear as mud, just like you'd expect a privately held company's financials to be :)

However, given some of the wording on the MD announcement (particularly the bit about BRS and MD discussing combining for some time now), I find it a rather high likelihood that what may have happened is they sold an equity stake in BRS to finance, or partially finance, the buyout of MD - that it was specifically to enable this newest development. The $600k question is... if that's what happened, how large of an equity stake did they have to sell? Minority, or majority control?

 

[Cell]

I don't care who owns BRS as long as they continue to supply good customer service and quality products at a fair price. They don't have to do all the crazy giveaways and contests. They give back a lot.

 

[Opus]

I admit, I rarely find what I want on BRS. Things here and there, but they never seem to carry what I want. It is usally obscure admittedly. I used Aquacave, Premium Aquatics (although not often recently) and just started using Saltwater Aquarium.com. They have done great for me and had things I wanted.

Businesses get bought out all the time. Usually not great for consumer for a while, but does usually get better in a few years. Not always though. Job loss just stinks though.

Premium Aquatics has been my go to place for 20+ years. They have always had great customer service and had helpful videos before BRS was even around. Used to have their own bulletin board but I never really took off.

 

[thewire]

This is crap! There is aquacave too. Good experience with them

 

[rtparty]

Private investment is a buyout. You get loans from banks and you sell your business to private equity guys. Minority shares or a buyout none of us here can or will know.

I don't know exact details except Ryan and Andrew still own and run BRS. I didn't feel like prying into the details while talking to Ryan about other things. Not my place

MAP is only half of it...If they can buy it 30% cheaper than the competition, they can do things like offer free shipping on orders over x....a lot of times the barrier of entry for newcomer online vendors is the pricing scale...

What I've always admired about some (actually most) of the big vendors in this hobby is they don't give price breaks to the bigger retailers. My LFS wholesale is the same as bigger retailers with almost everything I could dig up.

 

[brahm]

I've been a supporter of both BRS, Marine Depot, and Premium Aquatics going on for almost two decades now. They all provided great service and had their niches. I'm sad to see Marine Depot go though, that next day UPS ground shipping to Cali was nice