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SPRINGFIELD, MO— Legend Boats is set to join Ranger, Triton, Nitro and Tracker under the White River Marine Group label. The announcement has been confirmed by both parties, on the heels of a letter to dealers from Legend Boats President Randy Qualls late last week.
“From humble beginnings in a small Texas facility back in 2002, Legend has matured into one of the world’s premium fiberglass bass boat brands,” Qualls writes. “As we look to the future, our focus has always been considering how to best serve our customer base and maintain our high standard of quality. This led us to consider an exciting opportunity to establish the next chapter for Legend Marine.
I’m thrilled to share Legend is joining the White River Marine Group family, one of the premier manufacturers and marketers of boats in the world. Under the leadership of founder Johnny Morris, the company emphasizes performance, innovation, and world-class service with an unparalleled range of industry-leading brands. White River has a strong history in the boating business with a deep understanding of how to help develop and support independent retailers in growing strong profitable brands within our highly competitive industry.
Johnny and his team are committed to maintaining the values and standards that define our brand and products. I’m confident that joining White River will greatly benefit Legend thanks to well-established industry expertise and highly sophisticated marketing strategy and support.
Attached is a letter from Johnny and Les Crawford, President of White River Marine Group, outlining what this exciting new chapter looks like and how it will impact you. I am excited and proud to watch this future unfold – thank you for helping us accomplish this milestone.
Sincerely,
Randy Qualls
Founder and President, Legend Marine
Bass Pro Shops Founder Johnny Morris and White River Marine Group President Les Crawford also released a statement welcoming Legend Boats into their fold.
With the addition of Legend, White River Marine strengthens their hold on the bass boat market, while adding another prominent sport fishing brand alongside other fishing and recreational brands like Mako, Regency, Sun Tracker and Tahoe. White River officials say Legend will continue operations at its Midway, Arkansas factory. “We believe this state-of-the-art facility and extremely skilled workforce will increase our overall capacity and potentially be a significant long-term benefit to all White River Marine Group dealers.”
White River plans to honor all existing warranties.
The industry rocked in 2014 when White River purchased Fishing Holdings, LLC, a group that included Ranger, Triton and Stratos, and again in 2015 when upper-level management of those companies stepped down. However, despite profits now heading into the pocketbooks of the Bass Pro Shops founder, Morris’ pattern of operation has not been one of shuttering brands. If that pattern holds, Legend is likely to continue operations for the foreseeable future, though according to insiders, integration of technologies from across the White River line—and vice versa—are likely.
Financial terms of the deal have not been released.