BREAKING NEWS
National RV Holdings Files for Bankruptcy
RV Business
Saturday, December 1, 2007

Perris, Calif.-based National RV Holdings Inc. announced late Friday (Nov. 30) that the company and its subsidiary, motorhome builder National RV Inc., have filed for bankruptcy.

National RV Holdings closed down operations Friday morning and laid off around 600 employees at its Perris headquarters. In its statement, officials said that “seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is in the best interests of the company, its creditors, stockholders and other interested parties in light of ongoing financial challenges and the inability to adequately fund operations and obligations.”

"We are saddened to let go our excellent employees, especially so close to the holidays, and even more so because National's motorhomes have never been better than they are today,” said Dave Humphreys, who took over as interim CEO in August, replacing Brad Albrechtsen. “After evaluating our options, however, we ultimately determined that seeking protection in bankruptcy was in the best interests of creditors and shareholders."

The firm, which sold its Junction City, Ore.-based Country Coach Inc. subsidiary last February for $38.75 million, has been losing money every year since 2002 totaling more than $80 million. Recently the company's stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because it fell below trading thresholds.

In its most recent quarter, sales were reported down 42%, according to a financial report released in August.

According to a report in the Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif., the company's fate remains uncertain. Kathryn Thompson, an RV industry analyst with Avondale Partners LLC in Nashville, said it's unlikely that another company will want to buy National RV.

"There's a chance that Fleetwood or another company like Thor could just buy certain brands off them," Thompson said. "But at the end of the day, it's too much of a liability to buy the whole company."

She said the news that National RV was closing was not altogether surprising. "What I've been saying for about four years is that if there's a company that could just go out of business, it's National RV," Thompson said. "It's a cash-flow issue for them."