Wärtsilä to Acquire Underwater Ship Repairer Trident BV

Photo: Trident B.V.

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has announced its intention to acquire Trident B.V., a Netherlands-based company specializing in underwater ship maintenance, inspection, and repair services.

Through the acquisition, Wärtsilä will become the first global operator in the underwater services market.

The acquisition is estimated to close in January 2018.

Wärtsilä has a long history of providing underwater services through partners, but the acquisition of Trident will bring the expertise in-house for the first time.

The enterprise value of the transaction is EUR 17.5 million and an additional EUR 3.5 million earn-out, based on the business performance in the coming years. The turnover of Trident is approximately EUR 9 million.

Trident Group, established in 1993, is a leading underwater service supplier specialising in repair, overhaul, and maintenance of propulsion systems, hull, and machinery. It has fully-equipped facilities and certified personnel in the Netherlands, Italy, and Canary Islands, enabling the company to serve customers around the globe.

“This acquisition supports Wärtsilä’s strategy on several fronts, starting from Wärtsilä’s purpose to enable sustainable societies with smart technologies. Reduced fuel consumption, efficiency improvements and higher utilisation rates are always on the top of the operators’ agenda,” says Tamara de Gruyter, Vice President, Area North Europe and Propulsion System Services, Wärtsilä Services. “At the same time, environmental issues are becoming an integral part of customers´ business planning. Trident is a pioneer in the development of environmentally sound solutions for example hull cleaning,” de Gruyter added.

“We are very excited to join Wärtsilä,” says Managing Director Adrie Huijbregts, Trident B.V. “We have identified several synergies between the companies, such as the ability to develop more specific products due to increased knowledge, and thus provide an even more enhanced offering to our customers.”

Trident and Wärtsilä have previously co-operated in research and development. One result of this co-operation has been the jointly developed Wärtsilä-Trident Thruster preservation bag.

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