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Malibu was founded in Merced, California, in 1982 by Bob Alkema and Steve Marshall. During the first year of operation, "production began at a modest pace of two boats per week", using a single-hull design and a blended gel coat. The company quickly developed a backlog, and increased staff and output. The company implemented an employee stock ownership program in 1986, and had acquired a nine percent share of the market by 1988. With the California plant at full production, the company opened a second plant in Tennessee. By the end of the year, Malibu had built almost 1,000 custom ski boats and had been awarded their first Product Excellence Award for Value by Powerboat Magazine. By 1989, it had become "one of the largest boat manufacturers in California", manufacturing 1200 boats per year. That same year, Australian company Flightcraft sold its boat designs to Malibu, and Flightcraft's founder, David Telling, joined Malibu as director of sales and marketing, remaining with Malibu until he left to pursue other endeavors in 1991.By the end of 1992, Malibu had built a new production facility in Loudon, Tennessee to accommodate the increased demand east of the Mississippi. They removed all wood from the construction, and introduced the new, patented, Fiberglass Engine Chassis System , which eliminated vibration and noise associated with the drivetrain. In 1994, Malibu began building boats in Australia through local licensee Malibu Boats Australia, in Albury, New South Wales. In Australia, Malibu had to take legal action to establish control of the "Malibu Boats" name, ultimately prevailing in Malibu Boats West Inc. v. Catanese, with the Federal Court of Australia concluding that Malibu's advertising and marketing in Australia through American magazines was sufficient to establish ownership of the mark there.Malibu "was early to recognize the importance of wake boarding as an outgrowth of the traditional sport of water skiing", and therefore became positioned to capitalize on this market. By 2002, Malibu was "arguably the largest custom ski boat manufacturer in the world". In 2006, Black Canyon Capital, as the primary investor, acquired Malibu Boats. Malibu's market share grew during the Great Recession of the mid-2000s, as most companies in the industry were contracting.In 2009, Jack Springer became CEO of Malibu. Under Springer's direction, Malibu established the Axis Wake Research brand, and relocated the executive headquarters to the production facility in Loudon, Tennessee, due to the proximity of that location to the larger freshwater marine manufacturing industry. Malibu later "decided to concentrate its boat manufacturing to Loudon", also moving its customer service, finance, procurement and human resources operations there. As of 2012, Malibu had 325 employees in Loudon, had received 19 "Boat of the Year" awards and 31 "Product Excellence" awards, and accounted for 30 percent of the worldwide towboat market.A new entity, Malibu Boats Inc., was formed on November 1, 2013, as the holding company for Malibu's operations. The company then had an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in January 2014. It "began trading on the NASDAQ at a price of $14 a share", yielding "an initial market capitalization of more than $300 million". In mid-2014, Malibu acquired "all of the equity interests of the Malibu Boats licensee in Australia", while assuring regional interests that boats would continue to be manufactured in Australia, with the possibility that the Australian production facility could become Malibu's producer for the entire Asian market. As of 2017, Malibu had "grown to over 500 employees in Tennessee and nearly 600 worldwide". In July 2017, Malibu acquired competitor Cobalt Boats in a deal "valued at $130 million", with Malibu maintaining Cobalt's manufacturing operations in Neodesha, Kansas, and adding Cobalt CEO Paxson St. Clair to its board of directors. In September 2017, Malibu CEO Jack Springer was named the Boating Industry Mover & Shaker of the Year.In 2018 Malibu Boats acquired Pursuit Boats from S2 Yachts. Pursuit offers of 15 models of offshore, dual console and center console boats. The saltwater outboard fishing market is one of the largest and fastest growing segments in the marine industry.
