Hanse Yachts acquires French catamaran builder Privilège

Hanse Yachts has acquired a majority stake in French catamaran builder Privilège, taking its market offering to seven sailing boat and motor yacht brands.

The strategic acquisition by parent company Aurelius, a German equity and investment group, offers Hanse a leg up in the high-growth catamaran market.

Privilège will continue to exist as an independent brand, the statement says, but there will be economies of scale via the acquisition.

The German boatbuilder says Privilège and Hanse Yachts have the same concept when it comes to building boats — both build premium-segment owner yachts that are sporty, luxurious and above all else particularly seaworthy.

The location of the Privilège shipyard in Les Sables-d'Olonne (France) is to be maintained and expanded. The aim is to combine the expertise of Hanse Yachts in the production stages to turn Privilège into one of the world’s most successful luxury catamaran brands.

All yachts currently being built by Privilège will be handed over to their owners as planned, and all current models will continue to be available for order.

Gert Purkert, Executive Board member at Aurelius, said the high-margin catamaran market has seen particularly strong growth in the past years.

"Hanse Yachts has not been able to share in this development so far, because it was not even possible to manufacture yachts of this breadth in the existing production facilities.

"In recent weeks, we have analysed the shipyard and the products of Privilège in detail and have found that the philosophy and products of Privilège are a good fit for us and for our corporate culture," he said.

The Hanse Yachts production site in Greifswald, Germany, is expected to take over some building processes in the future.

Gilles Wagner, CEO of Privilège, said th brand will benefit from the strong, worldwide network of sales and service points of Hanse Yachts.

Since 1985, Privilege Marine has been building premium catamarans in Les Sables d'Olonne on the French Atlantic coast. Some 800 cats have been sold in sizes ranging from 12 to 23m, including 80 that were over 17 metres in length.

The Hanse dealer in Australia, Andrew Bishop, said he's always looking forward to new opportunities, but that he's still waiting to hear how this will play out, as it looks like the brands will be kept quite separate.

"I'm heading to Germany in July for an international dealer meeting and expect to hear more about it then," he said.

More from the local Hanse yacht dealer Windcraft and www.privilege-marine.com.