The holding company Sea Sail Ship, a structure created in February 2021 to become the parent company of the Uship chandlery franchise, signed on September 16, 2022 to acquire the distributor Interdist. Sea Sail Ship CEO Stephane Serra answers questions from BoatIndustry.
How did the acquisition of Interdist from Patrick Carro come about?
When we created Sea Sail Ship in February 2021, we immediately had the intention to create a group, not just a financial holding. As soon as the Nautic 2021, we announced our intentions in services and distribution, aiming at a large audience. Before the end of the show, we started talking to Patrick Carro who told us that he wanted to sell Interdist. This was finally completed in mid-September 2022. Sea Sail Ship takes over 100% of the shares, the staff (about ten people) and the premises.
We recruited Gaëlle Linais to lead Interdist. She was able to start in July 2022 so that the intake could be good.
What attracted you to Interdist and what are your plans?
Interdist has some great exclusive brands, some of which are well developed and others that can be boosted. Gill and Spinlock are premium brands that cannot be ignored.
We also have a great brand of our own, Malo Motion, which is just waiting to be developed. We will see how to go further in its family of products, around the rope, the rigs...
The customer panel opens up our vision, with customers ranging from large construction sites to the distribution network, going beyond boating, for example for Gill.
We will continue Patrick's work and revitalize it.
What will be the relationship with Uship?
We are willing to separate Uship and Interdist within the group. After that, there will inevitably be some merging of product lines and families and more Interdist products in the Uship catalog. There are no big synergies at the moment, except perhaps in marketing and management.
You are now resellers and distributors. Interdist is also present at your competitors. How will this work?
There is no problem at all. We have Alliance Marine products at Uship. And Spinlock or Gill are a must. A reciprocity will be established with the Alliance Marine group.
What are the next steps for Sea Sail Ship?
There are obviously other files on the table, but Interdist was the first in the table. Now that we've done the formal takeover, we'll take a good look at all the data and give ourselves a few months, maybe a first exercise to digest.
