Ouest Croissance et al. back Ocea Group

The new investors in Ocea are Ouest Croissance, Unexo and Océan Participations.

Founders Roland Joassard and Fabrice Épaud will retain the majority stake in Ocea, according to French publication Capital Finance.

Andera, which first backed Ocea in 2007 via its Winch Capital line of funds, has exited the business. On the other hand, Ace Management, which first acquired a stake in the business in Q2 2013, is reinvesting. When Ace first backed the business, it was expecting to generate a €100m turnover by the end of 2013.

Ace, which has become a subsidiary of Tikehau Capital, is an asset management company specialising in capital investment for industry and innovation. It manages three major product lines, Aerofund (aerospace), Brienne (cybersecurity and defense) and Atalaya (maritime).

Company 
Created in 1987 and based in Sables d'Olonne, the Ocea group builds aluminium boats, up to 90 meters long. These include coastguard boats, passenger ships, fishing vessels and yachts. The business designs and builds ships, but also deals with ship equipment and maintenance. The group exports 95% of its production, which is made in France.

Thanks to a modernisation programme of the Sables d'Olonne site – a process that will end in 2019 – the company's turnover is expected to reach €150m in 2020.

People
Ouest Croissance – Anne Jacquinet-Sulger (general director); Laurent Bodin (investment director).
Unexo – Antony Lemarchand (investment director); Jérémy Durand (chargé d'affaires).
Océan Participations – Vincent Pelloquin (director).
Ace Management – Delphine Dinard (partner); Laurent Sassier (investment director). 

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Industrials
• France
• France
• ACE Management
• Ouest Croissance