Vermont Castings up for sale

[Ted Blodgett]

Makes my head spin trying to keep up with who owns VC. What will happen to warranties when they sell? I think Monessen said "You're SOL, sucker" but that may have been possible because of bankruptcy. No way would I buy a new VC with their track record over the last decade.

The former Monessen facilities in Paris, KY as well as the Mexicali, Mexico facilities are part of this sale. Monessen changed their name to The Vermont Castings Group so you're thought that Monessen told VC SOL sucker is way way off base. It's the Vermont Castings GROUP that is being sold NOT simply just the Vermont facilities.

Ugh. I was going to do the refractory in mine this year. Makes me think I should order the parts now in case. Im not ready to dump the stove altogether.

I know at one point their foundary also cast lodge cookware, gas range cook grates for various companies and parts for other cast iron wood stove makers. If Jotul pulled out I wonder if these other contracts are still in place.

They still cast the Lodge pans and the cookstove grates.

 

[begreen]

The hippies are already working there. And the facilities do have huge potential for someone that knows what to do with it.

Well it's nice to hear that they kept a least a part of the original there! Hope they can find a successful buyer with a great business sense. I would love to see VC regain it's prior luster.

They still cast the Lodge pans and the cookstove grates.

I'm concerned about the industry impact. It's said that VC also casts for many other stove companies. Would you know what other stove mfgs. they cast for?

 

[Ted Blodgett]

Riverside is a private equity firm so yes that is what thy do flip companies. Bought it in 2008 at the height of the recession for 42 million. Will probably sell for a lot more. They were in bankruptcy prior to riverside buying so this is all a good thing.

Is the $42 million what Riverside bought Monessen(which of course included VC and the Mexicali plant) for or is that what Monessen paid for VC? I assume it must be the first.

 

[dougand3]

No, I was referring to Monessen treatment of VC owners who had VC stoves...say bought in 2004-2008...and needed warranty repair. Monessen bought VC assets in 2008 and wouldn't honor warranties. May have been perfectly legal but sure gives brand a bad name.

 

[Ted Blodgett]

Well it's nice to hear that they kept a least a part of the original there! Hope they can find a successful buyer with a great business sense. I would love to see VC regain it's prior luster.



I'm concerned about the industry impact. It's said that VC also casts for many other stove companies. Would you know what other stove mfgs. they cast for?

I work in the Bethel assembly plant rather the the Randolph foundry but I have heard that they aren't doing any other companies parts at this time. Just no sure that's true. The Lodge pans and the grates go through the Bethel plant for cleaning and finishing is how I know they definitely still do those.

With the skilled labor available, the foundry and more recently the addition of sheet metal fabrication department in Bethel the Vermont facilities have a huge potential far beyond stove manufacturing.

 

[Ted Blodgett]

No, I was referring to Monessen treatment of VC owners who had VC stoves...say bought in 2004-2008...and needed warranty repair. Monessen bought VC assets in 2008 and wouldn't honor warranties. May have been perfectly legal but sure gives brand a bad name.

Yes that is indeed a very bad way to run a business!

 

[OldLumberKid]

The hippies are already working there. And the facilities do have huge potential for someone that knows what to do with it.

And a few bucks to invest no doubt. I got a coupla thou I could take out of a 401k (and pay the tax hit) anyone else coming in with me ?

 

[slindo]

As I recall, there were one or two efforts by local investors to buy the company and run it again as a locally owned and operated Vt biz but they were no more successful than the soulless conglomerates.

And a few bucks to invest no doubt. I got a coupla thou I could take out of a 401k (and pay the tax hit) anyone else coming in with me ?

 

[Jags]

And a few bucks to invest no doubt. I got a coupla thou I could take out of a 401k (and pay the tax hit) anyone else coming in with me ?

I wouldn't touch that with BrotherBarts bank account.

 

[BrotherBart]

I wouldn't touch that with BrotherBarts bank account.

Neither would BrotherBart.

 

[theheatelement]

SOLD (broken link removed to http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130424/THISJUSTIN/130429991) Wonder what they paid for them.

 

[mellow]

Maybe they got a Google deal, $1.

"The sale is expected to close within 45-60 days, at which time the buyer will be named and additional details will be provided."

 

[Ted Blodgett]

SOLD (broken link removed to http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130424/THISJUSTIN/130429991) Wonder what they paid for them.

What's disturbing to me as an employee there is that this is just another financial holding company which will do little with the company other then just keep it alive. Looks like time to look for a new job. There's so much potential for the company but of course a financial corp isn't going to make use of that potential.

 

[downeast]

A successful company started by hippies making a great product stumbles through the world of private investment pump and dump greed. A shame.

This Silly politics aside BB , VC entrepreneurs were architects and engineers and professional manufacturers. Busted their b---s developing products that changed the wood stove industry, created a market for wood heat, made QC a touchstone of their stoves, and made owning a VC wood stove ( Vigilant and Defiant) part of a lifestyle with yearly owner parties in Vermont. Randolph Vermont plant still OEM's high end castings. Think of successes of Ben and Jerry's, or Woodstock stove now. Many U.S. makers and Scandinavian stoves benefited from the 70's VC success. True Capitalism BB.

It's a shame indeed that the later buyers blew the name and products for the industry.

 

[jharkin]

And to be honest even Ben&Jerry's sold out to big business in the end... and those guys really were hippies

Sad about VC bouncing around though, I'm sure with each sale good people left, or where let go and the new management changed priorities which cant have helped them dealing with the quality issues.....

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Well I got the montpelier in January and so far all is very good after my first burning season. I don't think I would trade it for anything. I was looking at the Harmon i300 but feel that I made the right choice for me. Hopefully I don't get stuck in the end but like I said so far, so good...

 

[downeast]

And to be honest even Ben&Jerry's sold out to big business in the end... and those guys really were hippies

Sad about VC bouncing around though, I'm sure with each sale good people left, or where let go and the new management changed priorities which cant have helped them dealing with the quality issues.....

No. Wrong on all counts.

B&J were dead serious business men. Thousands of jobs were created that spread throughout the world.

And BTW, they received awards for their philanthropy.

Where did this fool "hippie" thing originate for people who made money, created markets for products, gave opportunities for jobs ?

That's what Capitalism is: create value, sell, make money, transfer wealth. SmartFons, tablets, PCs. "Sold out" ? "Hippie" huh ?

Some of you are smoking some funny weed.

 

[Jags]

Easy big fella - it is widely accepted that Ben and Jerry were considered hippies.

"Everyone, it turns out, has a price.
For Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the hippies who founded Ben & Jerry's Homemade and combined ice cream making with social activism, that price was $326 million, which is what Unilever will pay to acquire the Vermont company."

Being a hippie doesn't mean you can't be a successful businessman.

 

[jharkin]

Yea, we call them hippies because they wanted to use a lot of their profits to support social causes. They weren't in it only for the money.

 

[begreen]

The Grateful Dead were hippies and good capitalists too. They earned about $100 million a year at their peak. The terms are not mutually exclusive or contradictory.

I'm still hoping a core VC team can rise out of this mess. If they do they should call themselves Phoenix Foundry.

 

[webbie]

The shortcomings of VC aside, isn't this a common thing with businesses that buy companies like this?

Not really.....assuming they weathered the recession (which I doubt they did very well), the idea would be to now make the $$ as the economy improved.

The market is not that great now to assume that "taking the money and running" is a good move.

Of course, companies never say "well, we failed, time to move on".....

I, and probably many here, would love to see this company survive and thrive. But for it to do so probably means private ownership - the investment houses usually don't care about much except ROI.

 

[webbie]

The Grateful Dead were hippies and good capitalists too. They earned about $100 million a year at their peak. The terms are not mutually exclusive or contradictory.

I'm still hoping a core VC team can rise out of this mess. If they do they should call themselves Phoenix Foundry.

I'm up for sale as a part-time highly paid consultant...in which case, I promise to not betray my hippie roots.

 

[Jags]

But for it to do so probably means private ownership - the investment houses usually don't care about much except ROI.

I agree. I just hope the investment firm that bought them aren't gonna do a pump and dump. Then again, if they do that, maybe some grass roots folks can pick up the pieces and make it work.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Hate it. It was the VC stoves of the late 80's that got us interested in wood heat. By the time we rertired, started to get the house built, they already where having a bit of a bad name, so we passed, planning to come back to it, and when we did.. well.. they had a crap reputation and had just horked all their owners, so we went with a different brand..

 

[FyreBug]

There were a few industry related companies interested in buying but obviously their bid was lower than this investment group. Any industry MFG would be shy to buy a casting plant. A casting plant is a separate business entity and must be run as a 'casting' plant. Ie. Salespoeple calling in the automotive, train and other industry. Hearth is a drop in the bucket of a casting plant production.

My guess is this group will pump some investments, separate and sell the various entities.