Beneteau Group makes major investments in charter, boat club and marina sectors

Groupe Beneteau has announced a revised forecast for 2021 and major acquisitions in the charter, boat club and marina markets, totalling $40 million. 

The Group is now forecasting full-year revenue growth of over 7 per cent on a reported basis for 2021 (over 6 per cent for the Boat Division and 15 per cent for the Housing Division), compared with +2 per cent previously. This performance includes the negative impacts of the cyberattack at the start of the year.

In a statement, the company says: “This growth is benefiting strongly from the progress with income from ordinary operations, which is expected to more than double this year compared with the 2020 pro-forma figure of €27.5m.”

The company also announced investments in the marina, boat club and charter sectors. 

Groupe Beneteau will partner with PPF, Central Europe’s leading private group, to enter the yacht charter sector, together acquiring an 87 per cent interest in Dream Yacht Group (alongside its longstanding shareholders NextStage, Fountaine-Pajot and the management team, led by Loic Bonnet) and a 50 per cent stake in Navigare Yachting.

“With a fleet of over 1,200 boats, these two companies together will form the world number 1 in this very promising sector, whose fundamentals are still particularly sound, driven by the sharing economy, facilitating access to boating,” Beneteau says. 

A “major platform” will be created “combining the digital and distribution activities of Dream Yacht Group (SamBoat, Vent de mer, LateSail, Argos, Albatros) and the Groupe Beneteau’s digital arm (BandOfBoats, Digital Nautic)”. Groupe Beneteau will hold around 41 per cent of this joint venture.

In the boat club and marina sector, Groupe Beneteau has acquired a 40 per cent interest in Your Boat Club, a North American company operating in the boat club and marina sector.

Your Boat Club owns and manages 24 clubs, including seven marinas, and has plans for a major development program over the coming years. 

These investments represent a combined total of around €40m for Groupe Beneteau.

“Following a difficult year, we really feel that the sky is clearing and that the combination of favourable market conditions and the in-house measures rolled out will deliver impacts more quickly than we expected even a year ago. With our diversification investments, we are delighted and proud of this development for Groupe Beneteau, which is announcing a change of scale. These new prospects are fascinating and further strengthen our position as a global boat market leader”, confirms Jérôme de Metz, Groupe Beneteau chairman and CEO.