Blue Sea Holding

The investment combines the assets of Dream Yacht Charter, the segment leader, and Navigare Yachting, which is number four in the industry. Their total sales in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic struck, exceeded EUR 200 million. PPF Group holds a 59 per cent stake and Groupe Beneteau a 41 per cent stake in the joint venture. Through this alliance, they are pooling together to cultivate a significant presence in the otherwise fragmented global sail boat charter market, which was worth EUR 1 billion annually prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Customers can take holidays at sea in any of over fifty destinations around the world, including the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Together, these two charter companies and their subsidiaries, including the fast growing online booking platform SamBoat, operate the world’s largest leisure fleet, numbering over a thousand sailing boats and catamarans. The fleet spans a range of sailing boat categories, including smaller monohull vessels, larger catamarans for groups and families, and larger, comfortable houseboats.

The Dream Yacht Charter and Navigare Yachting offerings benefit from the demand for environmentally friendly tourism with a low carbon footprint, boosted by the industry’s gradual offline-to-online switch. Technological advances and changes in consumer behaviour are working to the advantage of online platforms that are owned and operated by charter companies to provide boat owners and clients with customer-facing apps for bookings and other services.