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Recreational vehicle manufacturer Winnebago Industries says it is buying boat maker Chris-Craft to expand beyond motor homes and travel trailers and create a diversified outdoor lifestyle products company. Winnebago, based in Forest City, Iowa, hasn't disclosed details of the transaction... Chris-Craft is a recreational boating brand dating back to 1874. It's been owned by London-based investment firm Stellican Ltd. since 2001. Winnebago CEO Michael Happe says he sees a significant intersection between the RV and marine lifestyles and views the boat business as a natural addition to its existing outdoor recreation portfolio, with similar customer demographics and ownership crossover... Winnebago...

Two classic brands are cruising for a comeback The two Harvard Business School classmates who resurrected Chris-Craft have a new plan to bring Indian Motorcycle back from the brink. Can this icon be saved? Fortune's Eugenia Levenson reports FORTUNE Magazine By Eugenia Levenson, Fortune reporter November 23 2006: 8:12 AM EST (Fortune Magazine) -- In a tiny hotel screening room in Miami, 20 friends and colleagues crowded around Stephen Julius and Steve Heese. It was February 2005, and they were there to watch a prerelease version of a film called "The World's Fastest Indian." The movie featured Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins...

The company that owns and revived Chris-Craft boats and Outboard Motor Corporation has purchased the remains of the Indian Motorcycle Company, which shut its doors in September 2003. The new owner is Stellican Limited, a private equity firm headquartered in the UK that specializes in reviving ailing recreational product companies with strong brand names and also owns firms in unrelated industries like soft drinks and cash registers. It has a U.S. office in Florida. Because its principals supply their own capital, it is less likely to encounter the problems other would-be motorcycle makers have when more capital was required.