In the wake of Providence Equity Partners’ US$700 million sale of PADI to Mandarinfish Holdings — a group of rich families — last March, PADI‘s President and CEO Drew Richardson issued an optimistic message this week to the organization’s membership:
“As president and chief executive officer, I am committed to leading the organization into its next 50 years, as is the entire PADI executive team. Together, we will continue to grow the PADI brand and through our stewardship efforts ensure PADI is not only the best in the world, but also best for the world.”
Richardson called the sale “a positive transition for the organization as the family wealth investors will hold and nurture PADI for many years,” and “the next evolution of the PADI organization.”
Providence purchased PADI in 2015 from Lincolnshire Management, another private-equity firm. Since then, Providence helped PADI expand in China and upgrade its e-commerce system.
Richardson said:
“As my personal friends, I can confidently say that PADI Founders John Cronin and Ralph Erickson would be extremely proud of this next step for the PADI organization and heartened to see that it has transformed into a global force for good for scuba diving and the ocean planet.”
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