Image credit: D-Marin

CVC Capital Partners has agreed to sell its stake in D-Marin to Paris-based investor InfraVia Capital Partners in a transaction reportedly valuing the marina operator at just over €1 billion. The deal ends a sale process that had been an open secret since February, when Bloomberg reported that CVC was working with Goldman Sachs to explore an exit.

D-Marin was understood at the time to be generating annual EBITDA of roughly €70 million, implying a multiple in the region of 15 times earnings.

“This is a compelling infrastructure opportunity in a sector where scale, quality of locations and customer experience are key differentiators,” says Athanasios Zoulovits, Partner InfraVia.

“D-Marin operates in a resilient, growing and attractive market, supported by scarcity of marina locations and growing demand for high-quality yachting infrastructure and services. We see significant opportunities to support the company’s next phase of development starting with a further expansion of the network in a fragmented market that requires long-term private capital to provide scale and know-how to modernise and expand critical transportation and leisure infrastructure and further enhance customer experience.”

Vincent Levita, CEO InfraVia, adds that the transaction is a strong fit with InfraVia’s infrastructure investment thesis. “[The deal] is fully aligned with InfraVia’s ambition to partner with outstanding management teams and back resilient European platforms where long-term capital can support continued growth, transformation and institutionalisation.”

CVC acquired D-Marin from Turkey’s Doğuş Group in 2020, when the operator’s footprint was concentrated in its traditional markets of Turkey, Croatia, Greece and the UAE.

Under a new management team led by current chief executive Oliver Dörschuck, the group expanded into Spain, Italy, France, Malta and Albania, and now operates 28 marinas across nine countries with more than 14,300 berths, including over 1,000 dedicated superyacht berths, alongside 12 boatyards servicing some 2,500 yachts a year.

“When we invested in D-Marin, we saw a business with tremendous potential,” explains István Szőke, managing partner, CVC Capital Partners. “Having put in place an outstanding management team, led by Oliver Dörschuck, we transformed the business from a hidden gem into the clear market leader in premium marinas across Europe and the wider EMEA region. We expanded significantly across the Mediterranean, built the sector's most digitally advanced platform, and created a business with unmatched scale. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved together and believe D-Marin is uniquely positioned for continued success in its next chapter.”

Dörschuck will continue to lead the business under its new ownership. “Our partnership with CVC has been instrumental in shaping D-Marin into the business it is today and the strong foundation they helped build is what powers our next chapter,” he adds.

“InfraVia has consistently demonstrated clear alignment with D-Marin's customer-first philosophy and our purpose of enriching the yachting experience, and we are well positioned together to accelerate the next phase of our growth.”

The transaction also marks a slight shift in the type of capital holding the assets. CVC’s Fund VII is a conventional buyout vehicle with a typical five to seven-year horizon, while InfraVia invests from infrastructure funds built around longer holds and steadier yields. The framing of marinas as institutionalised critical infrastructure rather than leisure assets reflects a broader repricing of the sector. 

The investment case rests on scarcity. Berths are a supply-constrained asset class with high barriers to entry and sticky customers, at a time when the global fleet continues to outgrow the infrastructure built to accommodate it. 

PE still maintains a key interest in the sector, nevertheless. Blackstone’s infrastructure arm agreed to acquire Safe Harbor Marinas, the largest marina owner in the US, from Sun Communities for $5.65 billion in early 2025, while MarineMax paid $480 million for superyacht marina specialist IGY in 2022.

CVC was advised by Goldman Sachs and Clifford Chance. InfraVia was advised by Morgan Stanley and White & Case.

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