Finnish fishing tackle hulk Rapala VMC Corp. has acquired StrikeMaster Corp. of Big Lake, Minn., a heading retailer of ice augers, in a understanding that gives Rapala a self-evident opening in a ice fishing business.
StrikeMaster creates handheld, gas-powered and electric augers indispensable for drilling holes in a ice.
At a same time, Rapala acquired a Mora ICE brand, Europe’s heading builder of ice augers and ice auger blades, from Mora of Sweden AB. The sum cost for both StrikeMaster and Mora is about $9.24 million, Rapala pronounced in a Finnish regulatory filing. The acquisitions are partial of a plan to give Rapala a finish operation of products for ice fishermen.
“We have jumped into a winter business with both boots,” Tom Mackin, boss of Rapala USA, pronounced in a statement. “Our new ice-fishing lineup is utterly endless with tackle and accessories, augers, wiring and more.”
According to Mackin, StrikeMaster, that has 10 employees, has a 70 percent share of a handheld and a 50 percent share of a energy auger markets in a U.S. The company’s powered augers embody two- and four-stroke gasoline models and electric versions.
StrikeMaster augers will be during work Saturday to assistance cavalcade 25,000 holes for a Brainerd Jaycees ice-fishing contest this weekend. The contest on Gull Lake is billed as a largest free ice fishing contest in a world.
In January, Rapala USA, struck a placement agreement with MarCum Technologies of New Hope, a builder of underwater cameras, sonar flashers and digital fish finders essentially for ice fisherman. MarCum will continue to do a engineering, product growth and production and Rapala will hoop sales, selling and distribution.
Rapala, that has a vast catalog of ice fishing lures, ice fishing lines and accessories, can now offer ice fisherman a collection indispensable to get to and find fish including augers, underwater cameras, sonar flashers, and digital fish finders.
“Our idea is to be a widespread actor in ice fishing in each category,” pronounced Mackin in an talk Friday.
Ice fishing is a healthy fit for Rapala. The primogenitor association is publicly traded in Finland with a clever participation in a Nordic countries and other ice-belt countries including France, Estonia, Russia, China, a United Kingdom and Canada. Mackin estimates a new deals will boost Rapala’s ice fishing difficulty to about 15 percent of a company’s sum sales.
For a year finished Dec. 31, Rapala VMC had worldwide sales of approximately $390 million. The association has 32 placement companies around a world. Rapala USA is a largest in a group, with about 100 employees in Minnetonka.
“In a destiny we will pierce into other categories like shelters and sleds and those associated accessories,” Mackin said. Since Rapala’s Canadian placement arm already sells sleds, shelters, and other products Mackin anticipates they’ll use a StrikeMaster name to pierce into those categories quickly.
“StrikeMaster is substantially a many obvious code in all of ice fishing,” pronounced Mackin. “So we intend to use a StrikeMaster code not usually for augers though for other ice fishing categories.”
Rapala USA now has finished 3 deals with Minnesota-based companies in a final 6 months. In further to a deals with StrikeMaster and MarCum a association sealed a selling and placement agreement in Sep with Goldleaf Plastics Inc. of St. Cloud. Goldleaf creates high-quality cosmetic products and will furnish a line of fish cleaning boards, strap stations, rulers and rod racks for Rapala.
Patrick Kennedy • 612-673-7926
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