7 Aug 2012

Couach takes action to move forward

By Don Hoyt Gorman

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The new CEO of French shipyard Couach Yachts, Christophe Kloeckner has filed “safeguard” proceedings—a French corporate restructuring procedure only available to companies that are solvent—with the Tribunal de Commerce de Bordeaux. The goal is to “allow the continued operation, maintenance of employment and discharge of liabilities, by undertaking a reorganization of the company under a plan adopted by the court,” said Kloeckner.

The safeguard proceeding has come as a result of both a bank action to collect €3 million the yard owes, and the withdrawal of the client for the 2nd 5000 Fly and subsequent action against the yard to collect the investments already made. The client’s withdrawal was due to delays in delivery of the yacht that accumulated last year after the tragic death of the previous yard owner, Fabrice Vial.

"We are under legal shelter of the court to stop this action,” Kloeckner said. “We offered to sell the yacht to repay the client’s installments but the negotiations left us little room for maneuver. The safeguard process should allow us a three to six month plan vis-à-vis creditors with payments.”

“This will allow us to get on with selling the next 5000 Fly and more of our new concepts. It’s a good step,” said Benoit Faure, sales and marketing director for the yard, who has been with the company through years of tumultuous change.



Couach, which was acquired by the Bordeaux-based private equity and venture-capital firm Nepteam last year, are experts in building hulls in Glass Kevlar, and have a long history of supplying patrol vessels to militaries worldwide. Their largest superyacht to date, the 50m La Pellegrina, was in Monaco last week for an open day, while the second in the series remains in build.

“We learned a lot on the first 5000 Fly,” Faure said in Monaco, aboard La Pellegrina. “The second in the series benefits from the same excellent hull design which is incredibly stable and efficient, and is enhanced by everything we’ve learned delivering La Pellegrina. She’ll be lighter and even quieter. I feel confident that we’ll finalize the sale of hull number two during the Cannes or Monaco yacht shows.



The new CEO, Christophe Kloeckner, was a former senior manager working for the current Chairman of Nepteam, businessman Florent Battistella. Battistella, who sold his successful energy conversion company to GE several years ago, has invested millions into the Couach shipyard, and plans to focus on building a cohesive management team and a successful product line focusing on the yards core competencies: Glass Kevlar construction and seakeeping, while developing new designs with established names in the industry.

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