AP buys part of RM?

One of the biggest pending issues for RM customers was the longevity of the brand over an extended period of time. Many people where a bit "twitchy" to spend 30k on a relatively new brand. The concern was that if RM would eventually disappear there would be nobody to service your RM properly. Now, this concern is less than before. Rumor has it that AP has recently purchased a chunk of RM. Depending on the size of the purchase, this not only would ensure the longevity but give RM access to AP's distribution network overnight. Especially interesting are markets where RM was not present, and had no plans to be there anytime soon. What is uncertain is what will happen to the existing importers. I guest that for AP to get them out of the picture they would need a bigger chunk of RM, pry them out of their cold dead hands or come to a sizable monetary agreement with them. Unless AP would buy 51% of RM this would, of course, be impossible.

I am not certain that this is good news for everybody. What I am sure that this is not bad news either. I guess that having a strong partner sets many minds at easy in the RM camp and AP insures a source of imagination that has been very successful in recent years. I am still "digesting" the news so I don't have an opinion yet. To be honest, the size of the share acquired by AP will determine their strength in RM. Anything around or up to 10% will be merely anecdotal.

More details to come soon...