The acquisition consolidates manufacturing of commercial and naval vessels in CT and SA, with compounded gains for stakeholders.
A 12-year-old company, Vee Craft Marine, specialises in manufacturing quality steel and aluminium vessels for government and private clients around the globe. There’s a strong kinship between Vee Craft Marine and Nautic: they design similar ranges of vessels, predominantly for deployment in African waters.
Why would one vessel builder buy another one that’s almost its twin? With business on the rise, Nautic is hunting to own the market: “The acquisition of Vee Craft consolidates manufacturing of commercial and naval vessels in Cape Town and South Africa with compounded gains for all stakeholders,” says James Fisher, CEO, Nautic Africa. A real deal sweetener is Vee Craft Marine’s confirmed forward order book in excess of R250 million, which accounts for the substantial consideration Nautic has paid for the shares.
Aside from Vee Craft Marine’s significant inherent value as a manufacturer with a local and international track record, the company brings to the Nautic business a number of key relationships, including a long-standing co-operation with world-renowned and leading vessel architects Incat Cowther in Australia.
“Vee Craft Marine will add to Nautic’s already strong in-house research and development capability and vessel support competencies. Nautic’s existing clients and the more than 100 vessels in service across the African continent will benefit from the acquisition through added value and increased service offering,” says Fisher. “We can now offer our clients more resources, a greater variety of designs and more capabilities for support.
“We are passionately committed to building a South African owned vessel building competence in Africa. This consolidation provides the impetus necessary to grow Nautic Africa, a Paramount Group company, into a more meaningful global manufacturer of quality vessels up to 120m in length, providing the industry and country with much needed development of skills and growth in employment,” says Fisher.
Nautic Africa is 51% owned by Paramount Industrial Holdings, part of the Paramount Group.