Acquisition of SamBoat
Dream Yacht Charter, number 1 in professional yacht charter, announced on November 6, 2018 the acquisition of the online charter platform SamBoat. Having become the world's largest charter company since 2001, with a physical fleet of more than 1,000 boats, the company founded by Loïc Bonnet is buying a historic player in private boat rental. Samboat, created in 2014 by Laurent Calando and Nicolas Cargou in Bordeaux for boaters, had opened a year ago to professional renters. The platform now offers 25,000 sailboats and motorboats in 120 countries.
A digital tool to reach boaters
With SamBoat, the Dream Yacht Charter group acquires a proven support and skills to reach boaters on the internet. The two founders and their team of 20 employees will continue their work within the SamBoat entity, while bringing their technical expertise for the development of the global digital platform of Dream Yacht Charter. As the Bénéteau group did a few days ago with the acquisition of Digital Nautic Dream Yacht Charter relies on a start-up to accelerate its online development.
Expand the offerings
The acquisition of SamBoat follows many other acquisitions. While Dream Yacht Charter does 35% of its business directly, the majority is done through brokers via specialized booking platforms. In order to satisfy a maximum number of clients with boats that can belong to other charter companies, the group has acquired brokers established in several European countries, such as Argos in Germany, Vents de Mer in France or Latesail in England. Dream Yacht Charter also acquired the Boaterfly rental website last year, proof of the group's interest in the sector, although the platform is less active than SamBoat.
Vertical integration in yachting
The operation was led by Dream Yacht Charter with the support of the Next Stage fund. In a press release, the latter indicates that it has participated to the tune of 2.9 Meuros in a total fundraising of 5 Meuros launched for the buyout. It is important to remember that Next Stage was already present in the capital of Dream Yacht Charter alongside the catamaran builder Fountaine-Pajot, of which it is also a shareholder. The choice to develop a nautical activity going from the production of boats to the online services linked to the use, while passing by the sale, on which Dream Yacht is in growth, is a heavy tendency, as we also see it within the Bénéteau group.
