Princess Yachts Sold
The 54’ Princess motoryacht. The company has been introducing about three new boats a year.
LVMH Adds Another Classy Brand
L Capital, the buyout holding company, said that it will leave Princess Yachts’ chairman David King and managing director Chris Gates, in their management positions and both could get some equity in the new vehicle.
"L Capital has recognized that Princess is one of the leading yacht companies in the world, with a long standing tradition of building modern, sophisticated, high quality yachts with excellent sea keeping abilities…”, said Daniel Piette, chairman of L Capital and member of the LVMH Executive Committee.
L Capital controls more than 70% of the voting rights company and has been supported by its co-investors including the Belgian investment group Cobepa. Calyon Bank provided an element of funding for the transaction.
Happy Management
David King, managing director and founder of Princess Yachts, says: "This new partnership will bring lots of opportunities for Princess. We could not have found a better partner who shares our vision for growth and who will help us develop a stand alone business that benefits from the expertise of its sponsors."
Founded in 1965 as Marine Projects (Plymouth) Ltd, Princess Yachts is one of the UK's leading boat builders, responsible for a wide range of Flybridge and V Class Sport motoryachts. The company was previously owned by the Renwick Group, which is owned by aging South African billionaire Graham Beck.
The V58 is one of a whole line of express cruisers built by Princess Yachts.
The discussions have been led by David King, Managing Director and founder of Princess, who comments: "This new partnership will bring lots of opportunities for Princess.
"We could not have found a better partner who shares our vision for growth and who will help us develop a stand alone business that benefits from the expertise of its sponsors."
Effect on Viking Sport Cruisers
Tom Carroll, CEO of Viking Sport Cruisers, which imports the Princess yachts, re-brands them and markets them to the Western Hemisphere, said that he sees the re-capitalization as a very strong positive. The company will have no debt, and they will continue to have the capital to aggressively grow the company.”
“The company will continue to be independently run by a management team that has values very similar to our own here at Viking,” Carroll said.
The 70 motoryacht from Viking Sport Cruisers.
Carroll went on to say that it is expected that Princess Yachts would be the only boat building operation in the LVMH portfolio of prestigious consumer brands, and that they did not envision the French company buying other boat builders.
Princess Yachts builds about 400 boats a year in five factories in southwest England and employs about 1,500 people. The Viking operation in New Gretna, New Jersey employees about 1300 people.