Aurelius acquires catamaran builder Privilège

Munich/Greifswald, 19 May 2017 - AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A0JK2A8) has acquired a majority stake in French catamaran builder Privilège. With the exception of CEO Gilles Wagner, who will remain in office, all previous owners have sold their shares. Privilège will continue to exist as an independent brand. There are major synergies with AURELIUS group company HanseYachts AG, and the new equity investment allows AURELIUS and HanseYachts to enter the high-growth catamaran market.

HanseYachts will thus market seven world-renowned sailing boat and motor yacht brands going forward. Privilège and HanseYachts have the same concept when it comes to building boats: Both build premiumsegment 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 HanseYachts in the series production of yachts with the catamaran-building experience of Privilège in order to make the Privilège brand 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, says: “The high-margin catamaran market has seen particularly strong growth in the past years. HanseYachts 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. The popular and well-known Privilège brand will complement the HanseYachts portfolio perfectly. The acquisition of the new brand will also provide more security for the employees of HanseYachts at the existing locations. For example, we will examine whether some of the Privilège preliminary products that so far had to be purchased can be manufactured here.”

Gilles Wagner, CEO of Privilège, adds: “Our remit is to build luxury catamarans that are especially sturdy. Just like HanseYachts, we place a special emphasis on longevity, craftsmanship, design and simple handling for all of the yachts from our shipyard. The production methods of Privilège and HanseYachts are also very similar. In addition, HanseYachts is much larger than Privilège and has a global presence. As a result, we and our clients will benefit especially from the strong, worldwide network of sales and service points. Consequently we are very much looking forward to working together with HanseYachts.”