NextStage to take majority stake in Dream Yacht Charter

Alice Tchernookova
31 July 2017

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NextStage has entered into exclusive negotiations with Dream Yacht Charter’s (DYC) management to take a majority stake in the company alongside cruise catamarans manufacturer Fountaine Pajot.

NextStage, which said it had first met company founder Loïc Bonnet in 2011, announced it would invest more than €14m in DYC in the long term.

NextStage is currently investing from the €69m growth and buyout fund FCPR Nextstage PME Championnes II. Closed in 2013, the vehicle typically provides €4-10m in equity per transaction, and mainly targeting the industrial and services sectors.

Founded in 1976, Fountaine Pajot is an Alternext-listed cruise catamaran manufacturer. In 2002, Pajot had received support from 21 Central Partners, which took a 30% stake in the group. The GP has since exited the business.

In recent years, DYC has recorded a year-on-year growth rate of 15-20% on average, having reached €90m in revenues last year. DYC was hitherto self-financed.

NextStage will aim to help DYC bolster its position on the leisure boat charter market through targeted acquisitions and organic growth. The transaction is expected to close by October this year.

Company
Founded in 2001 by Loïc Bonnet with an initial charter base of six boats in the Seychelles islands, Dream Yacht Charter offers leisure boat rental services. It claims to have a fleet of 850 boats located in 47 charter bases worldwide, including in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Bahamas.

Dream Yacht Charter has also developed management and financing programmes for monohull and catamaran owners. Headquartered in Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mar, near Marseille, it generated revenues of €90m in 2016.

People
Dream Yacht Catcher - Loïc Bonnet (CEO/founder); Romuald Caillaud (deputy CEO/CFO).
NextStage - Grégoire Sentilhes (CEO); Julien Potier (investment director); Marie-Léa Soury (analyst).
Fountaine Pajot - Nicolas Gardies (managing director).

Advisers
Equity - Latournerie Wolfrom, Christian Wolfrom, Anne-Cécile Déville, Justine Conrard (legal).
Company - Chammas & Marcheteau, Denis Marcheteau (legal, tax, environmental due diligence); EY, Jean-François Nadaud, Guilhem de Montmarin (financial due diligence).