Evidently Obsession couldn't meet the demand for their bows and had to partner/sell to a company with more resources. Arcus Hunting buys Obsession Archery I've got a Fusion 6 on order that I've been waiting on for quite a while. I'm not sure how long it's really been. 4 or 6 weeks now. Hopefully Obsession continues to produce quality bows after this and the lead times are reduced.
Probably not a good sign for the long term. Arcus is a offshoot of Bregal Partners, which is an investment equity fund. These guys usually try to make money on a brand name by turning out lower quality pieces and taking huge margins until the public finally realizes that the brand they new and loved just became crap.
I knew Obsession was growing fast because I saw more and more posts on AT about bows with problems. Hopefully this sale helps get things back on track for them.
This type of thing happens a lot with companies that grow this quickly. It probably will depend on how things are structured and how much control the purchasing company has over them. This could mean that more resources are available to meet production demands, leaving Obsession with more time to design, improve and market their bows. But as mentioned, it could be a bad thing as well given the history of the purchasing company. I recall in the not so distant past that Bowtech was bought by Savage Arms. Of course its a different type of sale/purchase, but it seemed to work out well for Bowtech.
From what I hear, Arcus leaves Dennis Lewis in control of Obsession to design and handle customer service. Arcus will just provide the funding that Obsession needs to keep up with demand. We shall see....
It always starts out that way, until the margin isn't high enough. And speaking of high margins if they were high to begin with why would you need to sell the company in order to raise funds to keep your production up? In any event Lewis has taken on a share of Arcus, probably in leu of some portion of compensation. Also take a look at who owns Arcus and you will see that their List of prior holdings is almost as big as their current holdings. That should tell you something.
Banks don't like to loan money based simply on orders....they need collateral. And, dealers don't like to pay prior to receiving their product. But, I'm sure margins weren't as high as they need to be if they were subbing most or a big part of their manufacturing out.
