The long drawn-out saga to find a new owner for Erik Buell Racing has mercifully come to a close.

A Walworth County Circuit Court judge approved the sale of the East Troy company to Atlantic Metals Group to the tune of $2.2 million. Two separate deals were actually finalized shortly after the auction ended. In addition to its deal with Atlantic Metals Group, the judge also finalized Hero Motorcycles’->ke4078 previously reported acquisition of EBR’s->ke1393 consulting branch amounting to $2.8 million.

As part of its bid, Atlantic Metals Group will take full ownership of EBR’s tangible and intangible assets. These include machines, tools, and parts used in development of motorcycles and trademarks, patents, and databases the company has acquired in the past. Per the terms of the auction, Atlantic Metals will acquire all these assets with no contingencies.

All in all, EBR managed to raise a little over $5 million from the auction. It’s still a long ways from the $20.4 million in liabilities the company is on the hook for so EBR still has to find a way to make up the difference in order to pay off its creditors. But this is how receiverships work. Sometimes, an auction can wipe out the entire debt of a company while other times, well, it doesn’t.

Atlantic Metals Group has yet to make an announcement on its plans for EBR. As relieved as everybody is that the auction is finally over, the question on what Atlantic plans to do with its acquisition is now in everybody’s mind. The company, which apparently specializes in mining metals, has no background in motorcycle production.

A lot of people are hoping that Atlantic Metals can re-open EBR and allow it to operate independently under the leadership of people who are familiar with the bike business. You know, somebody like Erik Buell, perhaps?

That’d be a good way for Buell to build EBR back up again without having to worry about the financial implications of keeping the lights on.

Continue reading to read more about Atlantic Metal Groups’ acquisition of Erik Buell Racing.

Why it matters

Some people will say that the tough part is over. With the sale, Erik Buell Racing can now have some semblance of normalcy, knowing that the company, for all intents and purposes, is now under the ownership of Atlantic Metals Group. In some respects, the folks sharing this sentiment are right. The company now doesn’t have to deal with the uncertainty of being stuck in limbo.

It’s got a new owner and while said new owner has yet to announce its plans for the company, the fact that somebody actually owns EBR is reassuring, at the very least.

But just because that’s the case, that doesn’t mean the company’s out of the woods. That much became evident since the company that bought it specializes in a business that couldn’t be further away from the motorcycle industry, save for the part that they share the first letter ‘m.’

In all seriousness, I’m like everybody else here. I want to know what Atlantic Metals Group’s plans are for all the things it acquired from EBR. Since the acquired items basically fall under everything except its research and development cooperation with Hero Motorcycles, it stands to reason that either Atlantic Metals will revive the business, or flip it over to another company that will take reins and attempt to restart Erik Buell Racing.

Whatever the case may be, Erik Buell Racing is still not out of the woods yet. Hopefully, we get some kind of clarification soon for the sake of everybody involved.