Statement Marine Acquires Pilini Marine Assets

In an arrangement reached this week, Statement Marine had agreed to buy the assets of Pilini Marine. According to Statement’s Nick Buis, the deal is a win-win for the two companies located in Florida’s Tampa Bay area. With the buy-out Statement has the opportunity to expand its lineup into the ever-popular outboard-catamaran market with a proven hull design, while Pilini founder Jay Pilini, the former designer and builder of Spectre and Motion go-fast cats, can take comfort knowing that his boats—and his customers—are in the right hands with the team at Statement.

The former Pilini Marine 34 SCX is one of a few catamaran models that Statement Marine is going to start offering thanks to the company’s acquisition of the Pilini Marine assets. Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix

“The acquisition of the Pilini molds gives us the chance to expand our lineup and start building more ‘performance boats,’” Buis said. “We’ve been thinking about doing an outboard-powered cat for some time, so when the opportunity presented itself with Jay, we jumped on it.

“I’ve known Jay for about 35 years and I have a lot of respect for him and his boats,” he continued. “He’s worked hard throughout his career to construct safe, fast, stable boats, and we’re going to build upon his legacy by utilizing what we do best at Statement to take the boats to the next level.”

Pilini said he’s always been impressed with the team at Statement and the way it conducts business so he couldn’t think of a better fit.

“Nick and the rest of the Statement crew are great at what they do and I have no doubt that they will finish up the current boats in production and start working to fine-tune the overall production process,” said Pilini, who has built many world championship-winning raceboats throughout the years. “Those guys have an impressive infrastructure in place that I believe will only improve the boats and the speed in which they get built. I think the deal is great for everyone—the companies and the customers.”

Buis, who said Statement has every intention of supporting past Pilini customers as well as current ones, said the best part about adding the catamarans, which range from 34 to 37 feet, is that Statement is getting a proven hull design from someone with Pilini’s pedigree and not having to start from scratch.

Buis and Statement’s Craig Barrie plan to release more details on the acquisition along with model updates in the near future. In the meantime, they are focused on getting everything over to the Statement factory in St. Petersburg and planning how to integrate the catamarans into their production line and within their expansive dealer network.

“I’m tremendously excited about having this type of model in the Statement line,” Barrie said. “We decided now was as good a time as any to do something with Jay, who has worked hard to establish a brand that we think we can take to the next level—the Statement level. I am looking forward to building some cats.”

As expected, Barrie said Statement is going to make some modifications to the boats, but he is not sure exactly when that will happen. He did say that Statement plans to release the first 36-foot catamaran, which is currently being painted and is going to be powered by twin Mercury Racing 450R engines, in the near future.

Follow speedonthewater.com for more updates on the acquisition and transition.

Statement Marine Acquires Pilini Marine Assets

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