www.realestatejokers.com I'm heading out there in a little bit to see if I can buy some tooling - the auction should be going on until 8pm or so - I went and did the preview yesterday morning...neat stuff/place. Kinda sad, but still cool.
It's obvious from reading the link above that the Scorpion boys were trying to reduce the bidding compe***ion by their online claims of having bought the company. It's also obvious that they thought they could buy the whole company for $1 million, and left when they realized they were up against people a lot smarter, a lot richer and a lot more savvy than they were.
Lance Harris is also listed as the President and CEO of Mikronite, the company that shut Crane down. Larry T .........The offer went for naught as a bidding team of former Crane Cams CEO Lance Harris and Wisconsin-based S&S Cycles outbid the total by purchasing Crane Cams patents and trademarks for $1.2 million. The team also bought the parts inventory for $215,000.........
that is the 'positive signs' part of the ***le. they may be going back to work...the company is not gutted yet.
So functionally, S&S replaced Mikronite as owner but the company is intact under the same CEO? That's how I'm reading it, and is definitely positive news. Will be interesting to see where future manufacturing is performed. Will S&S take advantage of pre-trained workers to get it going again ASAP, or will they move the operation? Either way, S&S seems to be a lot more in line with the market/product, and stands a great chance of making it work while staying domestic.
The S&S management is absolutely ruthless, they will do whatever makes them the most $ no mater how many bodies are left in their wake. They love wisconsin for the tax advantages they get, and for being the big game in town employer-wise, my guess is they will restart up there. There are lots of laid off S&S employees up there looking for jobs, bodies will not be hard to find.
S&S Cycle acquires Crane Cams ***ets Following the disappointment that reports of a possible rescue of Crane Cams had not materialized, S&S Cycle has announced that it has stepped in to acquire some of the ***ets of the Daytona, Florida based manufacturer. The deal involves the inventory, intellectual property and trademarks for all Crane automotive and motorcycle electronic products, and for Crane's motorcycle valve train products. The intellectual property portion includes designs, drawings and cam profiles. Crane automotive valvetrain products are not included in this acquisition. "Crane Cams was founded in 1953, and, like S&S Cycle, which was founded in 1958, it has become a respected and iconic brand in the high-performance industry", said S&S in a news release of April 23rd. S&S says it intends to continue to sell Crane products through the same distributors and dealers who have sold them in the past, and that they will establish a new facility in Daytona Beach, Florida, to manage the business and provide customer service and technical support. This new facility will be staffed by many of the same personnel that Crane customers have worked with in the past, providing as seamless a transition as possible. S&S says that "while there may be some shortages of product in the near future, the Crane/S&S team will be working hard to fill back orders and meet future demand for Crane ignitions and motorcycle valvetrain components." Since the acquisition does not include the existing Crane facility at Fentress Boulevard, Daytona Beach, or any of the equipment there, manufacturing of valvetrain products will be moved to the S&S manufacturing facility in Viola, Wisconsin. S&S CEO George Smith says that "the addition of this product line is a natural fit for our current in-house cam manufacturing capabilities as our equipment and processes are state-of-the-art. We're also excited that the highly successful Crane motorcycle and automotive electronics line is included with this acquisition. "This will further strengthen S&S Cycle in the electronics field by providing additional expertise to improve our product offerings in late model ignitions, a**** other things." S&S CYCLE La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Give S&S some credit.They are one of the only manufactures that refuse to offshore any of their manufacturing.We worked with them on most of the tooling for their latest bike engine.They were great to work with.Burl.
Hate to see Crane be bought up though. I guess some of the first cams I used was Potvin,Clay Smith and Crane. They were icons in the industry and I hope at some point they become whole again.
If S&S didn't buy the equipment, it means they're probably buying the latest state of the art manufaturing tools instead. Could be a very good thing for quality. Fingers crossed!
I think they already have the tools. "S&S CEO George Smith says that "the addition of this product line is a natural fit for our current in-house cam manufacturing capabilities as our equipment and processes are state-of-the-art." Gary
S&S Cycle Press Release April 23, 2009 Viola, Wisconsin. S&S Cycle announces the acquisition of certain ***ets of Crane Cams Inc. Those ***ets include the inventory, intellectual property, and trademarks for all Crane automotive and motorcycle electronic products and for Crane motorcycle valve train products. The intellectual property portion includes designs, drawings, and cam profiles. Crane automotive valve train products are not included in this acquisition. Crane Cams was founded in 1953, and like S&S Cycle, founded in 1958, it has become a respected and iconic brand in the high performance industry. S&S intends to continue to sell Crane products through the same distributors and dealers who have sold them in the past. To that end, they will establish a new facility in Daytona Beach, Florida to manage the business and provide customer service and technical support. This new facility will be staffed by many of the same personnel that Crane customers have worked with in the past, providing as seamless a transition as possible. While there may be some shortages of product in the near future, the Crane/S&S team will be working hard to fill back orders and meet future demand for Crane ignitions and motorcycle valve train components. Since the acquisition does not include the Crane facility or equipment, manufacturing of valve train products will be moved to the S&S manufacturing facility in Viola, Wisconsin. S&S CEO George Smith comments: The addition of this product line is a natural fit for our current in-house cam manufacturing capabilities as our equipment and processes are state of the art. Were also excited that the highly successful Crane motorcycle and automotive electronics line is included with this acquisition. This will further strengthen S&S Cycle in the electronics field by providing additional expertise to improve our product offerings in late model ignitions, a**** other things." S&S Cycle has been a leading manufacturer of Proven Performance v-twin motorcycle components and engines for nearly 50 years. George Smith and Stanley Stankos founded the company in 1958 in Blue Island, Illinois. Shortly after the founding of S&S, George, and his wife Marjorie (whose maiden name was also Smith), bought out Stanley Stankos and Smith & Stankos became Smith & Smith (S&S). In 1969, S&S moved from Blue Island to Viola, Wisconsin and expanded to La Crosse, Wisconsin in 2004. More information can be found at www.sscycle.com).
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