Vitas Founders Purchase Historic Dock
5/25/2005 10:14:57 AM by INA PAIVA CORDLE
A South Florida couple who made their fortune in hospice care bought Miami's historic Merrill-Stevens Dry Dock Co. last December, fulfilling a long-held love of boating.
Burying a bitter family dispute by the former owners, Hugh Westbrook and Carole Shields Westbrook bought the company from descendants of the Merrill family and plan to expand its boat-yard capacity and services.
The Westbrooks sold their majority ownership of Miami-based VITAS Healthcare Corp., a hospice company, to Chemed Corp. The total deal was valued at $406 million.
Avid boaters, they are now plying their capital into marine services.
It's a good opportunity to keep a business in Miami that has been here since the 1920s,Westbrook said.
Merrill-Stevens, which occupies both sides of the Miami River near Northwest 12th Avenue, employs 160 workers. Since 1923, it has offered haul, launch and repair facilities for yachts and megayachts, in addition to yacht brokerage services.
The deal came after a lawsuit between the company's former owners. In May 2003, James C. Merrill III was sued by his mother, two sisters and two executives of the company. Merrill, great-great-grandson of the founder, was the company's chairman after his father's death in 1995.
They wanted him out, claiming that his alcoholism, cavalier attitude and questionable use of company funds had hurt the boat yard, Miami- Dade Circuit Court filings showed.
James Jimmy Merrill, 54, who lives in Coconut Grove, and is a host, writer and producer for the Broadway Channel, said the legal issues were amicably resolved.
Merrill and his sisters, Eleanor Fowler and Roxanna Seely, were quoted in a press statement: The Merrill family is proud to see its marine business continue its long tradition and well regarded name and reputation under the new ownership by the Westbrooks.
Neither Westbrook nor Merrill would disclose the company's purchase price. Court papers showed that Merrill-Stevens' projected 2003 revenue was $10 million, with $850,000 in before-tax profit.
Westbrook, 59, has had a nearly lifelong link with the boat yard, having grown up in Jacksonville, two blocks from the original Merrill- Stevens facility.
After he and his wife moved to Miami about 30 years ago, they bought boats through Merrill-Stevens and have been customers for more than 20 years, he said. Today, they own a 55-foot fishing yacht and a 30- foot fishing boat that they keep at their Coral Gables waterfront home. They also have a home in Bimini.
After VITAS, we were looking to make some investments, and we're glad to find an active investment we can be involved in, said Westbrook, whose wife is 54.
The Westbrooks plan to expand the boatyard's operations and staffing during the next two years, maintaining its existing management.
I'll be strategically involved in planning and operations, but [Chief Executive] Fred Kirtland will be running it day to day, as he is now, Westbrook said.
Merrill-Stevens has a rich history.
Founded as Merrill & Son in the Florida territories in 1866 by Capt. James Gilman Merrill in Jacksonville, Merrill-Stevens grew from a blacksmith shop focused on marine services to the World War II era's largest shipyard south of Norfolk, Va.
Westbrook, a Methodist minister, co-founded VITAS with nurse Esther Colliflower in 1976.