GILROY
– The winning bidder for Indian Motorcycle’s assets won’t be
determined before late next week, according to company Chairman
Frank O’Connell.
GILROY – The winning bidder for Indian Motorcycle’s assets won’t be determined before late next week, according to company Chairman Frank O’Connell.
In the meantime, prospective buyers will get to see a national show of support for the brand as riders and dealers come out for a promotional ride on Saturday.
The seven bids received Oct. 24 reportedly weren’t all for the same combination of assets, so now O’Connell, officials from Credit Managers Association of California (hired by Indian to handle its liquidation process instead of bankruptcy court) and several attorneys are deciding which interested parties to invite to a second round of bidding next week. A final decision will quickly follow the second round, O’Connell said.
“I think we had apples and oranges and kumquats,” O’Connell joked, referring to of the differing bids. “We’re trying to get it down to just apples and oranges, and then just apples.”
O’Connell and his wife, Barbara, are personally funding Saturday’s ride and Los Angeles press conference. Celebrities have been invited to join the ride, including California governor elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, who rode an Indian Motorcycle in the third “Terminator” movie.
The ride “above all is for riders and for dealers (and) anybody who is interested in seeing the company survive,” O’Connell said Thursday, but the timing of it – right before a second round of bidding – suggests it’s also a ploy to drive up the price. O’Connell doesn’t deny this.
“What better way to understand the strength and power of the brand than by seeing the riders and dealers come out?” O’Connell asked. “This is the company. The riders are the company. The dealers are the company. … So if it influences the bidding process … wonderful.”
Indian is using a Long Island, N.Y., Indian dealer’s Web site as a rallying point for the event, dubbed “Indian … Ride On!” A statement on the site Thursday said, “You may remember the difficult time that Harley went through when it was bought by AMF. Many of us who owned their bikes stood by them. So let’s make a difference on November 1st. Attend one of the national events to demonstrate that the passion for Indian Motorcycle is still there.”
Bay Area Indian dealers, including those in Gilroy and San Jose, are planning to join the ride in Los Angeles, an Indian public relations agent said Thursday from New York.
For more information on “Indian … Ride On!,” see www.rampindian.com/rideon.
