Brunswick renews agreement with Bella Boats

swadminJune 19, 2007

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC) and Bella-Veneet Oy of Kuopio, Finland, have renewed and extended their partnership agreement, they reported in a joint announcement. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Bella-Veneet Oy, commonly known as Bella Boats, is a Nordic manufacturer of fiberglass boats. Bella brands include Aquador, Flipper and Bella boats. Mercury Marine, a Brunswick unit, is the primary provider of marine propulsion to Bella, which uses Mercury and Mariner outboard engines, MerCruiser sterndrive engines and diesel engines from Cummins-MerCruiser, a Mercury joint venture.

“Our association has been quite helpful and important to Brunswick’s increasing success in Europe and, in particular, Scandinavia,” said Jacques Bronchart, president – Brunswick Marine in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

“Our relationship with Brunswick has been instrumental to our opening new market areas, establishing global sourcing and a number of other efforts aimed at advancing our product and business,” echoed Bella’s Sonninen.

Brunswick acquired a 36-percent ownership interest in Bella in 2003. That investment, as well as other cooperative arrangements, will remain in place as a result of this new agreement, according to the two companies.