Beneteau, the giant French nautical industry, is no longer alone. A new heavy weight of the craft is being born in La Rochelle. Two of the main shipyards of the prefecture of Charente-Maritime have decided to unite. Fountaine Pajot, the specialist of catamarans, has announced her engagement with Dufour Yachts, a manufacturer of sailing boats monohulls top of the range.
After the redemptions of the american Rec Boat by Beneteau, the French Nautitech by the German Bavaria or of French Privilege by the German Hanse Yachts, the concentration of the sector is continuing at a brisk pace. “We are clearly the number two in the sector in France “, emphasizes Salvatore Serio, the skipper of Dufour Yachts. “We are also a leading player at the global level,” continues Nicolas Gardies, the managing director of Fountaine Pajot.
In 2017, the builder of catamarans has achieved a turnover of nearly 80 million euros, while that of monohulls has amounted to nearly 65 million euros. The fact of the growth of the market, the two companies intend to quickly exceed the 150 million euros of turnover. This is still far from Bénéteau, which has made more than 1 billion euros in the sale of boats, or of the German Brunswick, specializing in the only motor boat.
“Both companies profitable ”
“Above all, we are two profitable companies in the finance footing, after the serious crisis experienced by the sector. And we take full of a very dynamic market, ” says Mr. Gardies. Highly complementary businesses : they do not produce the same types of vessels and each of them has its specificity in the business. “We are very active in the United States, while Dufour Yachts has a global sales network is very strong in Europe,” says Nicolas Gardies. Together, we will, in a first time, pool our distribution networks,…
