Westerbeke Corporation - Introduction

Introduction

Myles Standish Industrial Park
150 John Hancock Road
Taunton, Massachusetts 02780
U.S.A.
Telephone: (508) 823-7677
Fax: (508) 884-9688
Web Site: http://www.westerbeke.com

Public Company
Incorporated: 1937 as J.H. Westerbeke Corporation
Employees: 79
Sales: $25.5 million (2002)
Stock Exchanges: NASDAQ
Ticker Symbol: WTBK
NAIC: 335312 Motor and Generator Manufacturing

Based in Taunton, Massachusetts, Westerbeke Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets diesel and gasoline marine engines and generators, as well as marine air conditioners and industrial diesel generators. The company's business is organized under two segments: Marine Products and Industrial Products. On the marine side, Westerbeke is a well-respected brand, supplying propulsion engines and generators to high-end boat builders—including Hinckley Yachts, Little Harbor, and Grand Banks—and production boat builders such as Bayliner, Beneteau, Chris-Craft, Catalina Yachts, and Sea Ray. The company's generators are also used by houseboat manufacturers such as Lakeview, Sharpe, Somerset, and Stardust. In addition, Westerbeke supplies the engines and generators used in the United States and other countries for harbor pilot boats, police boats, fire boats, and high speed drug patrol boats. The company also provides an extensive line of spare parts and accessories for its 22 models of propulsion engines and 26 models of electrical generators, plus discontinued models. To market its marine products around the world, Westerbeke maintains a distribution network that includes more than 65 master distributors and their dealers, as well as warehousing in Europe. All told, the company supplies marine products to some 65 countries around the world, plus the 12 islands of the Caribbean and certain islands in Europe and the Far East. A more recent product offering, marine air conditioning, accounts for a negligible amount of business. Westerbeke Industrial Products segment converts the company's marine generators for land use, resulting in nine models of electrical generators used as a secondary power source at a fixed site or installed on fire trucks, rescue vehicles, motor coaches, refrigerated trucks, and other specialty vehicles. The Westerbeke family owns nearly 60 percent of the public company and in 2003 launched an effort to take the business private once again.