Earlier this week, Polaris made the shocking announcement that it would be selling Indian Motorcycle after reviving the brand nearly a decade ago. The sale, which is to a private equity firm named Carolwood LP, has raised a ton of questions about the future of the brand. And rightfully so.
Private equity, in recent years, has become synonymous with gutting of companies six ways to Sunday. I know this from personal experience, as well as watching brands I loved die sus deaths after private equity waltzs in. The formula is simple, and literally the same nearly every time. Buy at an overvalued market price. Saddle the property with debt accrued in paying way too much for the compamy. Cut employees and make a product worse to get out of debt. Sell the property for pennies on the dollar after having given executives fat bonuses.
But Indian's new owners have never sold a property. The price detailed in the original press release isn't insane for a company and IP like Indian. And the person Carolwood LP has brought in to run Indian, Mike Kennedy, at least comes from the powersport and motorcycle world, having even worked for Indian's biggest competitor, Harley-Davidson. Whether that's a plus or not given Harley's current outlook, however, remains to be seen.
