BRS and Neptune Merger

[Ryan3313]

On the other hand no company ever comes out and says hey were going to over spend and hurt your hobby when we fold up shop and take the brands we bought with us. I doubt everyone at Sears thought being bought by Kmart was a death knell at the time. If you want a more hobby related one, then ask Vertex how over expanding worked out for them.

There is a reason many dont like move by BRS. We only hope it does not turn into the above examples.

I worked for a sears store when the Kmart thing happened and everyone felt like it was a bad thing. The top name brands pulled out because they didn't want to be associated with Kmart. It almost felt like sears was sabotaged because they were just ran into the ground.
Are hobby will continue no matter the outcome of what Brs does but ultimately would anyone here that owned a business not want it to be the biggest and most successful business that you could possibly make of it? Maybe we'll get a Bulk Pet Supply.

 

[Ryan Avery]

The amount of cry babies and haters here is astounding

 

[scolson]

Give them an opportunity to prove evil intent before judging evil intent.

Personally, I suspect it will be a windy bumpy road for a while, but I'm willing to trust in a good outcome and also willing to accept that my trust could be violated.

I'll continue to buy from BRS, at least for now, because they earned my trust is customer service and I don't have a lot of faith in my LFS.

Apex remains off my radar until it become more compelling then its competitors.

 

[ThRoewer]

Soon we will buy everything from taco bell

I think you watched Demolition Man a few times too often...

 

[jez]

I don't think we have seen the end game here yet, my view is Bertram will acquire significant other companies in the sector leading brands in dry and livestock so add any name you think is important a year 18 months from now the only place you will find them is from the shiny integrated BRS store. By VC standards the marine aquarium market does not take a heavy investment to disrupt and bend to your will.

The local fish stores and the hobby will be the losers with fewer leading brands outside of BRS.

As for reasons Kurt and Terrence are not getting any younger time to plan their exit and cash out.

As for Hydros or GHL being a competitor, Hydros is shuttered for pocket change, The same way marine depot was bought and shuttered. GHL struggled without a good distributor outlet for years, and once the paints dry on this deal will be in the same zone as an imported product.

Ryan does a good job of coming across as the very relatable slightly goofball passionate hobbyist and says oh if we need to cut a million-dollar PO to make it happen for you guys, as we think its what you all want now we can but the reality is only if MR Bertrams CFO signs off on that PO.


Down the road it's going to be a lot harder to be the people's champion when you are owned by ~VC dollars.

 

[Ryan3313]

I believe if Hydros and Ghl are great products people will want them and if not available at brs they will be sold by other stores. Let's be real if enough reefers believe in the product and it works well then it will sell just on people talking about it on forums like this one. I believe there's room for more than just one controller in this market.

 

[nornicle]

They should buy avast marine too.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

If Ryan and BRS push Neptune to make a $200 monitor only that would be cool.

 

[jeffrey holloway]

My Apex stop working last night. Have to wait until friday to get support. what's the chance the wait time gets better.

 

[GK3]

Ever here if a little company called Microsoft that nearly got shut down in the late 90’s early 2000’s for being considered a monopoly? When there only crime was not having any competition? Yea trust me it happens. Cost my dad his entire retirement having been a 35 year employee of Microsoft

Except Microsoft had billion dollar government contracts that couldn’t be competitively bid. This also coincides with Apple almost going bankrupt and in 1997 Microsoft invested $150 million to keep them afloat. Partially to avoid their closest competitor disappearing and then legitimately becoming a monopoly.

can we all agree that comparing BRS to Microsoft is just a tad ridiculous? Not even close to a similar scenario.

BRS is no where close to a monopoly. The easiest example is they are primarily in the distribution business, yes they do make some products (private label), but their main business is distribution. BRS has a small competitor out there in this area - Amazon. BRS could go buy saltwater aquarium.com, algae barn, etc. and not even be close to a monopoly.

 

[Bepis]

Maybe now Neptune Systems will get a upgrade from their currently child’s toy quality materials to some real high quality plastics or metals.

Secondly improve that customer support!
I missed your post @Billldg but perhaps these are two things you touched upon?

@randyBRS @Bulk Reef Supply @Terence @NeptunePaul

 

[James_O]

GameStop?

No, they will most definitely merge with fortnight and Halo.

 

[KarlsReef]

Maybe now Neptune Systems will get a upgrade from their currently child’s toy quality materials to some real high quality plastics or metals.

Secondly improve that customer support!
I missed your post @Billldg but perhaps these are two things you touched upon?

@randyBRS @Bulk Reef Supply @Terence @NeptunePaul

Personally I've had great experiences with their customer service on the two or three occasions I've had issues over the last 3 years and I'm in the UK so thought I'd struggle, but their support has been superb even with time differences.

 

[RudyB]

If this merger brings lower cost and better monitors then I am in. I agree with people, BRS customer service is excellent. I hope that that would improve the others. If they can bring prices down then it will make our hobby more appealing to others and my wallet. I can can spend less on my stuff and gadgets for my tanks than power to them. If I don't like the direction that they are taking then I will just buy from someone else or get out of the hobby. Last one not very probable as I love my tanks.

 

[Not an IT guy]

At this point the ocean comes to BRS for supplies now. Lol

 

[ELChingonsReef]

Red Sea is next

Your absolutely right brs will soon be making aqueriums. Or own the company that does. I definitely see that coming.

 

[lakai]

Puting that private equity capital to work. Won't be long until we can trade BRS on the stock market.

 

[T-J]

There could be a lot of reasons for this merger.
The company I work for is publicly traded. We've purchased other companies for various reasons. Sometimes we want their patents, so we buy them up to secure those so we can produce/sell the patents, or use them in other ways.
If BRS wants to make new/better/other versions of controllers, buy acquiring Neptune, they also get their patents. Perhaps they want to incorporate these into new products?

 

[revhtree]

I don't know the details of this merger but I do know some of the details of Ryan as I have a personal relationship with him like I do many business owners in this industry. He is one of the most upstanding and caring people you would ever meet. His love for this hobby and the people in it are genuine and fierce.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Well now, since BRS and Neptune have, and I quote, "MERGED" , and in a merger the surviving corporation assumes all of the merged company's liabilities and obligations, and BRS is well known to have excellent customer service, maybe now I can expect to receive that Go and Grow light that I supposedly "won" in the contest from Neptune but still have not seen?