Case Study
Enabling a UK PE Firm’s Investment Strategy via CDD on the Global Recreational Boating Market
Pre-Deal Commercial Due Diligence (CDD) | Competitive Dynamics | Market Overview
Business Need
- As part of its investment plans, a UK-based private equity (PE) firm engaged RocSearch to assess the global Recreational Boating Market, with a particular focus on the United States (US).
- The client sought to understand the overall market structure and key competitive dynamics as well as identify leading players and their operating models.
- It also wanted RocSearch to develop an in-depth profile of a major online marketplace facilitating the sale of new and pre-owned boats.
Deliver a comprehensive analysis of the Recreational Boating market and its competitive landscape.
The client outlined three key reasons for selecting RocSearch:
- Our prior experience in conducting commercial due diligence for PE clients.
- Our long-standing relationship with the client and its portfolio companies.
- Our proven investment research and advisory capabilities.
Approach and Methodology
- RocSearch deployed a dedicated analyst team to conduct a multi-dimensional assessment of the recreational boating market, emphasising the US, while extending coverage to Europe and Asia-Pacific (APAC), where the market showed accelerating growth. Our approach included analysis of intermediation rates, service offerings, multi-listing services (MLS) and market share distribution among leading providers.
We conducted a comprehensive market assessment across the US, Europe and APAC, benchmarked leading players on dimensions such as revenue models, pricing strategies and go-to-market approaches and developed a detailed summary of key players to generate actionable competitive insights.
- Having tracked recent news, regulatory updates, consumer trends and emerging market challenges, we evaluated the end-to-end boat purchasing journey, from discovery to delivery, supported by an analysis of precedent transactions within online marketplaces.
- We then undertook a comparative analysis of major public and private players on parameters such as ownership, service models, pricing strategies, revenue streams and marketing approaches.
- This was followed by the preparation of detailed multi-page profiles of key companies, including financial performance, brand portfolio, market reach, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity and the latest developments.
Business Outcomes
- The client received a comprehensive view of the market’s structural dynamics, growth drivers and current and projected outlook for the recreational boating market across regions.
- It was also able to gauge the attractiveness of the market based on the deep insights into business models, pricing and marketing strategies used by leading players.
- The client’s investment team used RocSearch’s actionable intelligence to conduct targeted follow-on analysis and support data-driven decision-making.
RocSearch’s insights equipped the client with a robust understanding of the recreational boating market, directly informing its strategic investment decision.
