AS the announcement is made that Penn Reels USA has been sold to two new owners, the UK subsidiary has confirmed its business as usual and dealers will notice no changes at all.

The Pennsylvania firm has been sold to Sea Striker Inc. of North Carolina and Master Fishing Tackle of California for an undisclosed amount.

Sea Striker is known for its Billfisher line of rods and terminal tackle, and is the parent company for Star rods, while Master Fishing Tackle imports a variety of rod and reel combos sold throughout the United States.

The new owners bought all the shares of the Henze family, who had owned and operated Penn for the past 70 years and Kevin Martin, who has been with the firm for the past year as chief operating officer, has been named as chief executive officer.

UK boss David Caulfield said simply: “It’s business as usual. Everything will remain exactly the same – there will be no changes.”