Acquisition of a stake in BPI France
France Investissement Tourisme, the specialised fund of BPI France, announced on 24 October 2017 that it had acquired a stake in GlobeSailor, a specialist in online yacht charter. 800,000, the purpose of the fundraising is to support GlobeSailor's accelerated growth. BPI France replaces historical shareholders including the Paris Business Angel association, which became a shareholder in 2010.
Develop new offers
The capital raised will enable GlobeSailor to build new offerings and expand internationally. A pioneer in 2008 in the online yacht charter market, which has continued to grow ever since, GlobeSailor claims to have become the European leader. The group's business volume grew by 40% per year, reaching 20 million euros last year for 25,000 embedded customers. In 2017, the turnover should reach a little less than 3 M?.
While GlobeSailor started as a price comparison site, the site now directly offers the rental of over 10,000 sailing boats, yachts, catamarans and other power boats with or without crew at over 800 bases worldwide. With versions in French, English, Russian, Polish, Italian and Spanish, GlobeSailor has international coverage. The site will continue the diversification process begun in March with the offer of complete stays, including transport, hotel, but also guided excursions We want to support GlobeSailor in extending its offer to thematic and privatised cruises, as well as in pursuing its international development through external growth" explains Alexis Mahieu, investment director for the France Investissement Tourisme fund of Bpifrance. Acquisitions should therefore follow, in a market in full concentration.
