Pure Fishing recently announced they will be acquiring iconic fishing brands Fin-Nor and Van Staal from W.C. Bradley/Zebco Holdings, Inc. The addition of these brands add to Pure Fishing’s dominant offering in the saltwater category, including the premium PENN Fishing brand, one of the most widely-respected saltwater fishing equipment brands.
The company is working to bring newness and marketing support to the two brands in order to accelerate momentum as part of Pure Fishing’s ongoing focus on driving growth of the fishing industry. Captain Craig Cantelmo will also be joining the Pure fishing team as part of this acquisition. Cantelmo will be reporting to Dave Bulthuis, Pure Fishing’s newly appointed President of North America, who was the director of sales for Fin-Nor earlier in his career.
“The Fin-Nor and Van Staal brands are some of the most storied brands in the fishing industry,” said Harlan Kent, CEO of Pure Fishing. “We are excited to add them to our portfolio and are committed to maintaining their focus on the independent retailer channel. Our Pure Fishing team looks forward to driving growth of these brands and of our overall saltwater business anchored by the iconic PENN brand.”
Fin-Nor was started in 1933, when Captain Tommy Gifford and inventor Frederick Martin Grieten, along with a few other salty Miami captains, created a prototype reel that caught a 527-pound bluefin tuna in Cat Cay. This event carved out a unique position for the brand and Fin-Nor reels have racked up more than 900 International Gamefish Association (IGFA) records in the years since.
Van Staal was created in the early 1990’s to fulfill a need for extreme performance in challenging saltwater conditions. The brand was born in the salt, rock, sand and surf of the Atlantic Ocean and has been building equipment with the same durability and performance attributes ever since.
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