THOR Industries Signs Letter of Intent to Sell a Majority Interest in Its Digital Application Business, TH2 Connect, LLC.
THOR Industries (THO) has signed a Letter of Intent to sell a majority stake in its digital platform, TH2Connect, LLC, to Graham Allen Partners for $81 million. The transaction is expected to close by April 30, 2022. The move allows THOR to focus on its core RV business while providing Roadpass Digital with the expertise needed for further growth. THOR's leadership views this as a strategic step to enhance capital and operational focus. The sale reflects the significant value created in Roadpass Digital within a short time frame.
- Sale of majority interest in TH2Connect to Graham Allen Partners for $81 million, enhancing capital focus.
- Partnership expected to leverage Graham Allen's digital expertise for Roadpass Digital's growth.
- Transaction allows THOR to concentrate on its core RV manufacturing business.
- None.
ELKHART, Ind., April 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, THOR Industries, Inc. (THO) announced that it has entered into a Letter of Intent to sell a majority interest in its digital application business, TH2Connect, LLC. The TH2Connect digital platform collectively operates as Roadpass Digital, and consists of Roadtrippers, Campendium, RVillage, Togo RV, Roadpass, and Overnight RV Parking. Graham Allen Partners, an Indiana-based private equity firm that specializes in building value through technology and digital transformation, will purchase a controlling interest in the business for
“When we first created Roadpass Digital several years ago with our initial investment in TH2Connect, we had the foresight to see the fragmentation in the digital experience of RVers,” explained Bob Martin, President and CEO of THOR. “Through Roadpass Digital, we helped fill that void and, in doing so, we opened the RV lifestyle to users who expect a great digital experience. As we’ve watched our user base grow into millions of users, we can see that our timing was right and our execution in the key components of Roadpass Digital has been successful. Still, we recognize that, at our core, we are an RV company and not a software company. The sale of a majority position of Roadpass Digital comes at a time when it’s clear that Roadpass is positioned for great opportunities ahead, but it will require sustained amounts of focus and technology expertise to help it get to the next level. This transaction will enable us to maintain the focus of our capital and strategic initiatives on our core business, while allowing a knowledgeable and experienced partner to help Roadpass Digital continue to grow.”
“The sale price for a controlling interest in the business reveals the incredible value we have created in Roadpass Digital in what is a relatively short time in the life of a digital platform,” offered Todd Woelfer, Chief Operating Officer at THOR. “We believe Graham Allen Partners is the right firm to help Roadpass Digital reach new levels of success and further scale the digital experience with RVers everywhere. We've accumulated invaluable learnings from operating a digital platform of this magnitude, positioning us to better understand the needs of customers in the digital age in a way that differentiates us from our competitors. And as we move forward, THOR will be a customer of Roadpass to gain consumer insights and help serve the needs of THOR customers in improving their RV experiences.”
Rob Klinger, Managing Director for Digital Infrastructure Investments at Graham Allen Partners, added, “THOR did a remarkable job of seeing a gap in the industry, hiring a great team, and building a robust technology platform to connect with and provide better experiences for customers. As a technology-focused firm, we believe Graham Allen Partners can help Roadpass Digital achieve its peak potential.”
“THOR has been an incredible lead investor for Roadpass Digital,” explained Danny Hest, CEO of Roadpass Digital. “Under THOR’s ownership, we’ve found our product-market fit, and developed the platform to include virtually anything an RVer could need to better his or her experience, including education, service, campground reviews, an online community, RV GPS navigation, and the world’s leading trip planning application, Roadtrippers. As we look ahead, the opportunity to grow with a majority investor with digital experience is exciting for Roadpass. We expect this arrangement will allow our team to continue to innovate and deliver great experiences for RVers, campers, and road trippers.”
About THOR Industries, Inc.
THOR Industries is the sole owner of operating companies which, combined, represent the world’s largest manufacturer of recreational vehicles.
For more information on the Company and its products, please go to www.thorindustries.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes certain statements that are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are made based on management’s current expectations and beliefs regarding future and anticipated developments and their effects upon THOR, and inherently involve uncertainties and risks. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance. We cannot assure you that actual results will not differ materially from our expectations. Factors which could cause materially different results include, among others: the extent and impact from the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the responses to contain the spread of the virus, or its variants, by various governmental entities or other actors, which may have negative effects on retail customer demand, our independent dealers, our supply chain, our labor force, our production or other aspects of our business; the ability to ramp production up or down quickly in response to rapid changes in demand while also managing costs and market share; the effect of raw material and commodity price fluctuations, and/or raw material, commodity or chassis supply constraints; the impact of war, military conflict, terrorism and/or cyber-attacks, including state-sponsored attacks; the impact of sudden or significant energy or fuel cost increases, including those caused by geopolitical events, on our costs of operation, on raw material prices, on our independent dealers or on retail customers; the impact of sudden or significant energy or fuel cost increases, including those caused by geopolitical events, on our costs of operation, on raw material prices, on our independent dealers or on retail customers; the dependence on a small group of suppliers for certain components used in production; the level and magnitude of warranty and recall claims incurred; the ability of our suppliers to financially support any defects in their products; legislative, regulatory and tax law and/or policy developments including their potential impact on our independent dealers, retail customers or on our suppliers; the costs of compliance with governmental regulation; the impact of an adverse outcome or conclusion related to current or future litigation or regulatory investigations; the impact of an adverse outcome or conclusion related to current or future litigation or regulatory investigations; public perception of and the costs related to environmental, social and governance matters; legal and compliance issues including those that may arise in conjunction with recently completed transactions; lower consumer confidence and the level of discretionary consumer spending; interest rate fluctuations and their potential impact on the general economy and, specifically, on our profitability and on our independent dealers and consumers; the impact of exchange rate fluctuations; restrictive lending practices which could negatively impact our independent dealers and/or retail consumers; management changes; the success of new and existing products and services; the ability to maintain strong brands and develop innovative products that meet consumer demands; the ability to efficiently utilize existing production facilities; changes in consumer preferences; the risks associated with acquisitions, including: the pace and successful closing of an acquisition, the integration and financial impact thereof, the level of achievement of anticipated operating synergies from acquisitions, the potential for unknown or understated liabilities related to acquisitions, the potential loss of existing customers of acquisitions and our ability to retain key management personnel of acquired companies; a shortage of necessary personnel for production and increasing labor costs to attract production personnel in times of high demand; the loss or reduction of sales to key independent dealers; disruption of the delivery of units to independent dealers; increasing costs for freight and transportation; asset impairment charges; competition; the impact of potential losses under repurchase agreements; the potential impact of the strength of the U.S. dollar on international demand for products priced in U.S. dollars; general economic, market and political conditions in the various countries in which our products are produced and/or sold; the impact of changing emissions and other related climate change regulations in the various jurisdictions in which our products are produced, used and/or sold; changes to our investment and capital allocation strategies or other facets of our strategic plan; and changes in market liquidity conditions, credit ratings and other factors that may impact our access to future funding and the cost of debt.
These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed more fully in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2022 and in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2021.
We disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this release or to reflect any change in our expectations after the date hereof or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based, except as required by law.
| CONTACTS | ||
| INVESTORS: | ||
| Mark Trinske | Mike Cieslak, CFA | |
| Vice President of Investor Relations | Investor Relations Manager | |
| mtrinske@thorindustries.com | mcieslak@thorindustries.com | |
| (574) 970-7912 | (574) 294-7724 | |
| MEDIA: | ||
| Renee Jones | ||
| Head of Marketing | ||
| rjones@thorindustries.com | ||
| 574-294-7772 |
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