Take over a shipyard in the Arcachon basin
Sébastien Winter and his partner have the classic profile of the newcomer in the nautical sector. After 15 years in sales and operational management in the tourism and catering sector, the couple wanted to leave the Paris region and join a sector they were passionate about. "I am originally from Normandy and I grew up by the sea. I've always been a sailor. After a vacation on the edge of the basin in 2015, we fell in love with the place. Two years ago, I set up a small structure to rent my boat that I had acquired in Cap Ferret. It was a complementary activity and a way to put a foot in the nautical industry. Now, we want to settle down and ideally take over a boat sales and maintenance yard or a yard building small boats" explains the entrepreneur.
A large pool of nautical companies
To carry out this project, Sébastien Winter left his job and took a training course with the CRA on business recovery. He then drew up a framework for the project. "There is already a plethora of offers and that is why we want to rely on an existing structure. The idea is also to maintain local know-how and employment," says the potential buyer. In his statistical research, he identified no less than 158 companies in the basin area with a NAF code related to yachting.
Boating companies not officially in the market
In several months of approaching the company, the candidate for the takeover was only able to study 2 files. The first company, not very viable and in great difficulty, required large investments to pay off the debts, while the strong personalization of the second one could make the transfer delicate. "The problem is that the open market for transfers in the nautical sector is almost non-existent. But there is a hidden market. However, it is necessary to succeed in finding a response from these future sellers, who are not yet official. The average age of the managers is 54 years old in the basin. Knowing that it takes 6 years to prepare a transfer, we are right in the middle of the hidden market" testifies Sébastien Winter.
Not very complex financing
Good news among these difficulties, the good health of the sector seems to make the banks confident. "Financing from banks is not an issue, and if needed, a large investment fund is ready to follow us", says the entrepreneur.
The example of Arcachon is comparable to many other coastal sites. It leads us to think about the fluidity of these transactions to anticipate the future of the sector. We will follow Sébastien Winter in his steps to illustrate the path of the buyer and the solutions implemented.
