Beneteau Buys 60% of Seascape, the Slovenian Boat Builder

By , 16 Jul 2018, 13:28 PM Business
Slovenian Seascape 18 Class Slovenian Seascape 18 Class www.seascape18.si/

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STA, 16 July 2018 - French boat builder Beneteau has acquired a 60% stake in Seascape, a Slovenian company specialising in designing, building and marketing performance sailing yachts. The remaining 40% stake is held by Seascape's founders Andraž Mihelin and Kristjan Hajnšek. 

Beneteau acquired Ljubljana-based Seascape on 9 July, making it part of the French group with around 7,000 employees and presence in Italy, the US, Poland and China.

The group posted revenue to the tune of more than 1.2 billion euro in the past business year, according to data from its website.

While it used to focus on sailboats, Beneteau has significantly expanded its range of products to speedboats and yachts over the past few years.

"Our acquisition of a stake in Seascape will enable us to offer a selection of small sailing yachts designed for both novice sailors and enthusiasts, often younger and first-time buyers," Beneteau CEO Herve Gastinel said in a statement posted on the company's website.

It will moreover further strengthen the group's global leadership in the liveaboard monohull sailing segment by including performance cruisers.

Seascape was founded in 2008 by two Mini Transat Class sailors, and has become a leader in the transportable performance cruiser segment.

It currently offers four models, from 4.3 to eight metres, designed by Sam Manuard, and generated revenue of more than four million euro in 2017.

The company started gaining a reputation abroad with Seascape 18, a 5.5-metre yacht which was declared European yacht of the year in 2010.

According to Beneteau, the Slovenian company's output topped 100 sailing boats last year.

Seascape CEO Mihelin said that they "will continue to develop sailing boats, events and services in line with the spirit that has been central to our brand's success, while benefiting from group Beneteau's global scale and expertise".

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