Hate to be the bearer of news.....

[huntr70]

http://www.rvbusiness.com/2016/10/wi...-grand-design/

Looks like Winnebago just bought Grand Design!!

[K&I337RLS]

We Are Screwed!!!!!

[LCBoyer]

I owned several Winnebago motor homes since 1980. I always had good luck with them, and their customer service was good

[oldguy]

I'm kind of sad. In the end, there is no way this is gonna be good for us. Wonder how much longer before Forest River or Thor gobbles up Winnebago?

Sent from a tiny keyboard.

[Benny&Vickie]

I just bought my second Grand Design rv because I thought they were different. So much about customer satisfaction it is all about the money for this company. I have recommended Grand Design to many people but now they are no different than all the rest

[TucsonJim]

$1/2 Billion! Good for you Don, Ron and Bill. Lets hope their desire to change the industry has set the foundation to keep customer support where it is.

Jim

[Canyonlight]

This is the first I have heard about Summit Partners being an investor (obviously substantial) in GDRV........did anyone else know about them investing in GDRV in 2014 ?

I was under the impression that Don, Bill, & Ron walked away from Keystone with enough cash to start/fund/grow GDRV and used this money to do so. I recall them sharing that they (GDRV) had no debt .........but I never thought to ask about equity investors nor did they share it and this is disappointing.

I see that Summit Partners was also an investor in Keystone RV.......seems like things are rolling the same direction.

We owned an Itasca mini in early 2000s and Winnebago was one of the best companies out there for products/service/dealer relations/etc. Today this is no longer the case.

For all those of you recently at the GDRV owners rally, it would seem that this "good" news would have been shared (leaked) in some fashion and I do not recall any feedback on this forum regarding this.

It will be interesting to hear directly from Don/Ron/Bill in the coming days/weeks and for those of you are "close" to them what you learn and share.

Dan

[Megan Coriale]

In my industry, where bought-out companies are typically swallowed whole and become just another business unit of the parent company, I have seen instances where the smaller company is allowed near-full autonomy and continues in much the same manner as they did before the buy-out. Here's hoping this is what happens here because I have truly never had a better experience with an RV manufacturer, or any other manufacturer for that matter.

[Nanato10]

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!! Not a happy camper anymore!!!

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

[rtranter]

Winnebago will definitely have an impact on how Grand Design operates. Winnebago is a public company and there will be intense pressure for them to deliver economies of scale with this purchase. They have a market cap of just over $600 million. Paying $500 million for GD is a huge step. My hope is that Grand Design has more impact on the Winnebago culture and practices than Winnebago does on GD.

Rob