The Schulte Group has announced the acquisition, through its Singaporean affiliate Schulte Maritime Services PTE, of a majority stake in YPI CREW, the Antibes-based yacht crew recruitment agency. YPI CREW will be positioned under Bernhard Schulte Cruise Services (BSCS), the division formed by the Schulte Group to offer technical management and crewing services to the cruise industry.

“The majority owner of YPI CREW was BRS Yachting and they have decided to concentrate their efforts back into the core business of shipping,” starts Laurence Lewis, managing director and co-found of YPI CREW. “At the same time the Schulte Group was interested in making an acquisition in France and expanding into the yachting industry.”

BRS Yachting, the lead yachting company with the BRS Group, is selling its entire stake in YPI CREW. Lewis will continue to run the day to day business of YPI CREW as managing director and co-shareholder. YPI CREW has developed a strong reputation and name for itself within superyacht recruitment services and, therefore, regardless of the split from YPI, the YPI CREW name will remain.

“I am very happy to join the Schulte Group and, in particular, to be working with the management of Bernhard Schulte Cruise Services. Our clients will benefit from the complementary skills and technologies of two leaders in their market segments. We will thus improve our strategy of securing and developing international exchanges. The integration of our talents and our expertise will therefore take place very quickly. We have identified many valuable synergies,“ continues Lewis.

“This was a strategic move for us for two main reasons. Firstly, we want to expand into yacht management and, secondly, with cruise business developing so many luxury expedition ships, many of which are calling themselves yachts, we saw that there was an opportunity to offer experience yacht crew to operators of these vessels.”

- Les Royle, Bernard Schulte Cruise Services.

“This was a strategic move for us for two main reasons. Firstly, we want to expand into yacht management and, secondly, with cruise business developing so many luxury expedition ships, many of which are calling themselves yachts, we saw that there was an opportunity to offer experience yacht crew to operators of these vessels,” explains Les Royle of Bernard Schulte Cruise Services.

The acquisition of YPI CREW is latest in a series of strategic moves which, under the leadership of Royle, has seen the Bernard Schulte Cruise Services make great strides since its launch in 2017, the most recent of which is to enter the luxury yachting market. “We are very happy to have carried out this transaction with the Schulte Group and we are confident that YPI CREW will grow and reach new heights unders its patronage along with the expertise of Laurence Lewis,” comments Francois Cadiou, CEO of BRS Group.

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