The Dover based ship repair yard; Burgess Marine has bought out the Devon-based procurement & chandlery group Global Services.
The deal, the company’s fifth to date and second since RJD Partners’ a private equity, made an eleven million pound investment in February of last year, will expand the company’s exposure to the superyacht sector, adding to its current work, which is currently dominated by commercial shipping markets.
Global provides ships chandlery and fittings for yachts ranging from construction materials to the finishing items demanded by owners, such as artworks and jet skis.
Burgess Marine already handles circa £2.2m per annum of procurement purchasing for the commercial marine and cruise ship sectors, which will eventually sit within the Global Services business.
Combining their purchasing power is expected to generate costs savings but the deal will not mean staffing is reduced. Richard Gardiner, founder of Global, will stay with and help grow the business.
Created in his garden shed, Gardiner has built the yacht supply company over the years to the point that Burgess have now paid him a sum thought to be in the low millions for the assets.
In a statement issued by the company the deal was explained as an acquisition and at the same time suggested that the operational reality was that it was closer to that of a merger
Burgess has nine UK shipyards and one in Majorca. It hopes that the tie-up will create more work for its Portsmouth and Palma bases, with the latter a frequent port of call for superyachts.
Burgess hope the acquisition will deliver efficiencies by their adoption of Global’s software, promoting more superyacht refits to both the company’s superyacht facilities in Portchester and Palma.
Burgess has worked on several superyachts in recent years including
- Bystander
- Sir Charles Dunstones Shemara
- Amaryllis
- The Aga Khans Alamshar
- iDynasty
- Lord Sugars Lady A