new update about Silver Eagle Bus

[tekebird]

Silver Eagle Bus Manufacturing is now soliciting for a 5 million dollars in investment.

http://www.gobignetwork.com/funding/fundingRequestDetail_144984.aspx

[tekebird]

might be a wise investment for all you Eagle Believers.

Perhaps MCI will belly up and you will be able to ride the wave from the crash

[cody]

I'm not sure if "perhaps" is the correct word, seeing as how MCI filed chapter 11 bankrupsy in september,  It seems that finding funding is the theme for the day, detroit is seeking government bailouts, MCI is seeking court protection while they see if they can continue, this all is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

[Dreamscape]

Hi Doug,

Noticed you changed your avitar description. 

Paul

[Jeremy]

There was a piece on the evening news here tonight about how the British Government and trade unions are in discussion with the management of the Vauxhall car factories here about how to keep them open when the parent company (ie. General Motors) goes bust. Apparently the Germans are similarly worried about what will happen to their Opel plants.

Jeremy

[cody]

The claim is that we are dangerously close to slipping into a recession, what would constitute 'slipping" lol, I'm kinda inclined to thing we have slopped lol.  It seems to be a sad commentary on the ecomomy when a company like MCI slips into the throes of a court system, hopefully they can recover after restructuring, the article says that the move may save then 54 million in interest debt, thats a major chunk of change for crediters to swallow.  Eagle seeking funding in this economy shouldn't surprise anyone, I think we can safely say that most companies are reviewing their options and looking for the cheapest money.  My dad used to preach that when one company goes down another goes up, to look for the one that heads up, hopefully they can all do well inspite of the economy, anytime a bus related company has problems, all of us in the bus community loose a little, hopefully it's just MCI's airbag leaking and not a ruptured financial air beam lol.

[belfert]

Isn't MCI's filing one of those prepackaged filings?  It appears they already had new financing lined up and the consent of their major creditors before entering bankruptcy.

Refinancing makes sense these days with interest rates down.  In more normal times, companies refinance all the time when interest rates are down.

[coachconverter]

I got a peak at their new styling on the Model 15, a 37 footer, and I think everyone will be happier with it's looks.  I'm trying to get Craig's okey-dokey to share it, and will when that happens.

Todd

[VAN]

Sad to say not every one wOO hOO
   BUT i AM

[ktmossman]

I'm curious as to why the idea that Eagle is seeking more investment is considered a bad thing, especially if they are making the request public.  This is a common practice for new businesses, especially those in a manufacturing industry.  You get your first round of investment to fund the proof-of-concept.  This is actually the hard money to find because you are asking investors to fund an "idea". 

Once you have produced your first model, you now know more about a.) the potential market response to your product, and b.) what materials, equipment, etc. will be required in the manufacturing process.  So, you now have concrete details to get the "heavy" money needed to ramp up manufacturing.  This round of funding is typically far easier because you can produce solid cost figures and much better forecast figures.  Thus, the investors have real data on which to make a decision.

What this tells me is that Eagle successfully produced a solid proof-of-concept and got a good enough response in the market that they are ready to move forward to real production operations.  The only bad thing is that they are in a hard economy to attract investors.  On the other hand, five million dollars is not a big investment for a vehicle manufacturing process.

[HighTechRedneck]

What this tells me is that Eagle successfully produced a solid proof-of-concept and got a good enough response in the market that they are ready to move forward to real production operations. 

Exactly my thoughts.  The investment request is actually a very good sign for the future of Silver Eagle Manufacturing.

And they are doing it right.  $5M is a reasonable next step with a good chance of finding an investor.

In contrast, Millenium Transit, a company that I had really hoped could restart the RTS line, went out and got a nice large order from NJT almost immediately.  It sounded like a very promising start.  But then they were unable to get the huge investment backing needed to produce that large order and lost the order.

In my opinion Silver Eagle is doing it right taking their time.  Working out all the bugs and building up slowly, one step at a time.

[Jeremy]

I was thinking about this last night - given how much passion there clearly is amongst Eagle owners, I'm surprised that a syndicate of exisiting Eagle owners hasn't been set up to help fund the production of the new ones. Although everyone keeps referring to Silver Eagle wanting a $5m loan, what they actually said was that they had a number of confirmed orders and needed a rolling programme of $250,000 - $300,000 funding to enable them to build each vehicle.

I've seen pictures of Eagle rallies with dozens of shiney mega-buck Eagles lined up - can't help but think that the Eagle Owners Association (or whatever) could organise 25 owners to put up $10k each to get Silver Eagle going. If what they said is true it should be rusty-iron cast-iron investment for a guarenteed return after only 2 or 3 months (or however long it takes to build one).

Jeremy

[Songman]

Jeremy,

There is lots going on behind the scenes at Eagle. Just because it is not plastered all over a website, some people think it isn't true. Silver Eagle is building buses, both the new 25 and the new version of the 15. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

I just met with one of my clients the other day in a totally unrelated business and they are looking for an investor. They have been in business for over 25 years and have several million dollars worth of military contracts. Because of a recent internal reorganization, they do not have all the capital they need to buy supplies at a competitive price to complete the orders. They are looking for an investor or investors to help them with that capital.

As said above, it is not a bad thing. It is a normal business thing. It only becomes a bad thing if misconstrued by a third party with no knowledge of what is going on. Silver Eagle is going to be just fine. You can bet on it. And all of us who have Eagles are already benefiting by them being there.

[rusty]

  Jeremy  Thank you for helping us figure this out but I think it goes a little deeper than that. 25 X 10,000= 250,000 that works if you are building one bus at a time. Silver Eagle has already done that and knows what it take to build a bus. But building buses one at a time is not very efficient. I can see why they are asking for 5 mill.
   As for are mega dollar buses I can speak for mine and it's shiny. I have 5000 manhours of my time in it that I didnot have to pay for. That makes it easier to have a nice bus for a lot less money. I know a lot of Eagle owners that have done as I have.
   There are Eagle owners that are helping in anyway they can to help Silver Eagle survive and succeed.
                             Wayne

[Kobbeltvedt]

Thank you Wayne and all of the others who are helping to support Silver Eagle Bus! I can imagine that Silver Eagle is doing its best to support you all in return. I hope that Silver Eagle will be around for a long time to come.