Quebec’s Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), makers of the three-wheeled Can-Am Spyder (and Sea-Doos and Ski-Doos and all that other fun stuff), announced today in a press release that it’s bought “select assets” of Faster-Faster Inc., the parent company of Alta Motors.
Alta, you’ll recall, was the San Francisco startup company that began as a maker of electric motorcycles and then partnered with Harley-Davidson to develop electric drivetrains for The Motor Company. But that partnership ended last year, and a mysterious investor that Alta was counting on to acquire it and give it an essential cash boost pulled out of the deal at the last minute. That investor was rumoured to be BRP.
Alta went out of business late last year and creditors have been selling off whatever they can to recoup their losses. BRP stepped in this month to buy “certain intellectual property, patents and some limited physical assets,” but states it has no interest in restarting operations of Alta Motors and assumes no liabilities.
It is, however, “constantly on the lookout for the next generation of powersports solutions. BRP has already commercialized electric side-by-side vehicles for a number of years, has created electric and hybrid prototypes of Can-Am Spyder vehicles and is currently involved in electric karting with Rotax.”
Sounds like a good deal for BRP, and definitely the final nail in the coffin for Alta Motors.