About X-Yachts

X-Yachts is a leading prestige sailing yacht builder founded in 1979 by Lars Jeppesen, Niels Jeppesen and Birger Hansen.

During the 1980s, X-Yachts designed and built winning IOR yachts for World Class Racing. Its success with this market attracted the attention of the cruising market, which was then looking for fast, high quality and comfortable sailing yachts.

Throughout the 1990s, X-Yachts Range of Performance Cruisers was established. The X-412 was the first model in the new line, and was followed by a long series of X-Yachts Performance cruisers. The new millennium was celebrated with the introduction of the IMX 40 racer – an almost unbeatable IMS and IRC performer.

With leading design and production know-how developed since 1979 X-Yachts is today considered the industry standard of excellence.

X-Yachts reached a turnover of DKK 250 million (US$.42million). The company has produced approximately 5,000 yachts during the past 33 years. The company employs 250 people in total, and is headquartered in Haderslev, in the southern part of Denmark.

About Consolidated Holding A/S

Ib Kunøe’s holding company Consolidated Holdings A/S conducts business through a number of fully or partly owned companies . The overall turnover of these companies is 25 billion DKK and has around 8,000 employees primarily in Europe. Consolidated Holdings had an equity of 2.2 billion DKK

The Deal

Sailboat builder X-Yachts has announced that Consolidated Holdings A/S, a major Danish holding company, has acquired 51 per cent stake of the company. Consolidated Holdings recently reported a turnover in excess of DKK22bn (US$3.7bn) and holds a share capital of more than DKK2bn (US$338m).

The acquisition was made as Birger Hansen, Lars Jeppesen, and Niels Jeppesen, three founding shareholders, sold their shares. They now own a 49 per cent stake of the company.

In addition, X-Yachts has announced that Birger Hansen will gradually retire from his position in the company, whereas Lars Jeppesen and Niels Jeppesen will continue in the management team. Ib Kunøe, owner and chairman of Consolidated Holdings A/S, will become the new chairman of the Supervisory Board of X-Yachts.

AltaVenture and IBI Consulting performed a yachting market study as part of a vendor due diligence of X-Yachts.

Qotes

“Nepteam, which has bought all the shares of the Couach Group from the Vial family, is owned by industrial investors who are keen to maintain this living heritage in the Arcachon Basin,” Nepteam said in a statement. “We wanted to make this marvelous and upscale brand remain French, and we intend to invest in the long term,” said Christian Chevalier, one of SAS Nepteam’s industrialists.