Port of Egypt Marine — the family-owned Southold marina and boat dealership where generations of North Fork boaters have docked, serviced and launched their vessels —has been sold to luxury yachtmaker Hinckley.
The deal, announced Tuesday, ends more than 80 years of ownership by the Lieblein family, which has operated the marina since its founding as a fishing station in 1946.
In an exclusive interview with The Suffolk Times ahead of the announcement, cousins Yvonne and Will Lieblein, whose families trace back to the marina’s founding brothers, said the decision followed months of discussions and years of outside interest before ultimately gaining the support of the family’s older generation.
“We’ve been approached many times over the years, but this felt different — it felt like all the pieces were in place,” said Will Lieblein, whose father, Bill Lieblein, is part of the second generation that carried on the business after its founding by William Lieblein.
Terms of the deal for the eight-acre site on Southold Bay were not disclosed.
The acquisition is part of a roughly $40 million push by Hinckley to expand its network of marinas and service yards along the East Coast, according to a source with knowledge of the deal, who described it as a “string of pearls” strategy linking key boating markets.
The sale comes as consolidation accelerates across the marina industry nationwide, with larger operators and outside investment reshaping longstanding businesses, a pattern now becoming more visible on the North Fork.
In recent years, several family-owned docks on the North Fork have been acquired by deep-pocketed investors, includingDuryea’s Orient Point,Brick Cove Marinain Southold and theShagwong propertiesin New Suffolk and Cutchogue. Hinckley is owned by Park Avenue-based private equity firmScout Partners.
“The trend is fewer slips for bigger boats,” said Jeff Strong, owner ofMattituck-based Strong’s Marine, pointing to changes already underway in how marinas are built and operated.
“It’s another kind of South Fork moving to the North Fork kind of thing,” he said, a trend some in the industry describe as the continued “Hampton-ization” of the traditionally low-key North Fork.
Source: The Suffolk Times
