Located in Berlin private equity Fund CMP Capital Management-Partners became the new owner of the shipyard Bavaria, the largest German manufacturer of sailing and motor yachts. The Fund also bought a Bavaria Catamarans, a subsidiary of Bavaria Yachtbau located in France.
All 550 workers Bavaria Yachtbau in Giebelstadt all the 250 employees of the Bavaria Catamarans in Rochefort will go to the new owner.
The contract between Bavaria Yachtbau GmbH and CMP was signed on 15 September. The transaction has received the approval of the creditors and the interim administration. It will come into force within the next few weeks after the approval of the German antitrust authorities. The participants in the transaction have agreed not to disclose its value.
CMP bought Bavaria from Oaktree Capital and Anchorage Capital which purchased the asset in October 2009, approximately €300 million, including a cash infusion of €55 million and the write-off of debts of the previous owner Bain Capital in the amount of approximately €960 million.
Fund CMP Capital Management-Partners, founded in 2000, specializiruetsya on the purchase of bankrupt companies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Investing in the company, he introduces in the composition of their boards of Directors their managers. In the case of “Bavaria” in the Board will be included by Ralph (Ralph Kudla), CMP partner and restructuring specialist.
Kai Brandes (Brandes Kai), managing Director of CMP Capital Management-Partners, explains: “We are convinced that Bavaria has potential in the international market and we intend to ensure sustainable development of the company. Restructuring measures are aimed at restoring its market share and reduce the costs of production.”
“We are pleased to find well known and experienced buyer in the person of the CMP. The management of the shipyard thanked the employees, dealers, customers and suppliers. They were supported by Bavaria Yachtbau, while there was a bankruptcy. The fact that Bavaria was able to successfully build and put 220 yachts for the last five months, shows how all our workers are reliable and dedicated to their business,” commented Tobias Brinkmann (Tobias Brinkmann), managing Director of Bavaria at the time of bankruptcy.
Insolvency Bayern was the culmination of constant managerial upheaval. Lineup updated hesitantly, and then immediately introduced eight new models and handled production.
“Material costs were rising, the boat was not completed in time, and their production proved more expensive than planned. All this had a detrimental effect on liquidity,” says Brinkman.
In recent weeks there were several serious bidders for the German shipyard. The most likely buyer was an Italian shipyard for the Indian millionaire, but the deal never took place due to disputes over funding. Among other likely buyers called the family of the late Joseph Mella (Josef Meltl), the founder of the Yachten Meltl, the largest dealer of Bayern. Meltl owned half of the shares of Bayern to the purchase of its Fund Bain Capital in 2007. The deal worth €1.3 billion was the second largest deal in the yachting industry after the acquisition of company Candover in 2006, 60% stake in Ferretti Group for €1.7 billion.
