Miami Dolphins owner to buy controlling interest in Florida yachtmaker

By IBI Magazine / Michael Verdon

Wayne Huizenga, owner of the Miami Dolphins American football team, is reported to be buying controlling ownership in Rybovitch Spencer, a company that has been building and refitting large yachts for over 50 years.

"We're still sorting out the transaction," Rybovitch president Jim Bronstien told the West Palm Beach Post. "Clearly, if it is completed, they will inject a significant amount of capital in the business and the property."

The word has been spreading lately that Huizenga Holdings plans to make a major incursion into the marine industry in South Florida. Huizenga owns a stake in two small marinas.

Bronstien declined to disclose the amount of Huizenga's investment. But he said it will allow Rybovitch to expand its marina beyond 150 slips and make them larger to accommodate megayachts. Huizenga's investment is timely, according to the paper, because it will enable Rybovitch to upgrade as the firm starts production of a new class of boat. The yacht works encompasses 18 acres, eight of which are submerged.

"Really, we want to turn the place into a true yachting complex," Bronstien said. If Huizenga and his son, Wayne Huizenga Jr, the primary owners of Huizenga Holdings, complete the purchase of a controlling interest in Rybovitch, it will be the first ownership change at the boatyard since 1991.

Bronstien told the Post that he's been approached before by investors but decided to meet with Huizenga because Rybovitch wanted to expand its marina and yacht-building operation. "This is a very capital-intensive business," Bronstien said. "We've always talked about what we wanted to do and now have an opportunity to do it."

(15 December 2003)