Don't beat the competition ,buy 'em

Interesting. Azimut will not like their dealer being bought by Ferretti.

Are these two brands popular in the US ?

Ferretti not so much. Azimut has been picking up steam lately. Ferretti has a better reputation except that they don't have the representation. I'd be looking for some sort of joint operation or merger with MM in the not too distant future. It just seems to make sense.

Up here it's one or two Ferrettis vs a few Azimuts. Neither a big seller, but it is probably 1F to 10A to 300 Sea Rays. Since Ferretti, Azimut & Bertram are also handled by MM the logical conclusion brings them together with MM or bought out by Brunswick which is doubtful at the moment,but who knows.

Mr. Ferretti has invested a lot of his own time and energy in Bertram Yacht and now has a factory store across the street in Miami as well as the large factory stores in Fort Lauderdale at Bahia Mar and on 16th Street, plus Stuart and the others, if he decides to retain them.
So, he's not just "buying the competition" so much as he's vertically integrating his business by now controlling retail sales.
The paradigm of new boat sales in South Florida, at least in this instance, is beginning to undergo quite a change and ought to be evident at the FLL Show in October.

I am not surprised that the big, premium brands are looking to own their sales channel and have "factory stores". Not sure if MarineMax was doing a good enough job differentiating in the retail presence the premium versus the everyday. I perceived that it came down to the individual sales person to "treat" a multi-million dollar buyer differently than a sub-million dollar buyer.

What is surprising is that a branded retail presence hasn't been more broadly adopted in the boat industry.

It will sure through a wrench into the operations of MarineMax and Azimut in the US, in the short term!

It will be interesting to see how Azimut reacts...

Other builders own their retail dealerships such as Cheoy Lee, Lazzara, Intrepid, Trinity, Burger and many others.
With the Euro high, the dollar low, and US boat dealers in tough shape with inventory costs, will Azimut want to buy Marinemax?

Many builders that you listed are indeed factory direct, but with limited "retail" outlets. By buying ARBG, Ferretti Group now has a large factory owned retail presence.

I doubt Azimut would buy MarineMax. First, there are too many outlets for a brand like Azimut. They couldn't produce enough to justify that many sales people. So they would end up paying for it all, then having to close many down. Second, MM is a public company and it just makes it that much harder to get a deal done. Perhaps back in May when MM's stock price was lower!

What might be on the table (and I am purely speculating here) is whether MM can get an exclusive on Azimut, like they had with Ferretti. However, I don't think Ferretti was delighted with MM and I am not sure Azimut would want to have the same experience.

I think it puts Azimut in a tough position: continue distribution through dealers or build a boutique retail presence to offer a high-end "experience" like Ferretti.

At the other end of the spectrum, Mastercraft was bought by Penske (motorsports fame) and they pulled distribution from many multi-brand dealers as they are looking to create a premium brand through exclusive "factory-look" dealerships. Porsche did exactly this over the last 10 years.

What about Tiara?

ARBMG is also a big Tiara dealer with 3/4 of Florida territory. I wonder if they will be allowed to keep that line.
Ferretti owns Bertram and all the engines are bought in Europe and shipped here by the way. Big fish get better pricing I guess.

It would be a confusing strategy if they did. That would be like having the Ferrari factory store also sell BMWs.