Ferragamo’s Nautor’s Swan in Sanlorenzo: nautical super pole 2023
The partnership between Massimo Perotti’s Sanlorenzo group and Leonardo Ferragamo’s Sawa could be the boating event of 2024, as announced at the end of 2023.
Ferragamo’s Nautor’s Swan in Sanlorenzo: motor and sail for the nautical super pole
The most recent illustration of a trend in the high-end product market is the ongoing acquisition talks between Nautor Swan, Leonardo Ferragamo‘s shipyard in Finland (maker of the renowned Swan), and group Sanlorenzo, Italy’s third-largest player by revenue in the megayacht segment.
There are plenty of recent examples of acquisitions. The news that Sandro Veronesi’s massive Made in Italy company Calzedonia is taking over Cantiere del Pardo is still very recent. The Ferretti Group purchased the Wally brand in 2019. It is also known that major Italian shipyards have targeted Solaris Power and Solaris Yachts (which as of 2021 has a new majority shareholder, Marc Giorgetti, an Italian builder based in Luxembourg).
However, construction sites are not the only ones. In the accessory market, a Made in Italy global champion is rising to prominence.
A memorandum of understanding between Sanlorenzo S.p.A. and Sawa S.r.l., a Leonardo Ferragamo subsidiary, calls for an exclusive period of time to assess potential prospects for a strategic alliance between the Sanlorenzo Group and the Sawa-controlled Nautor Swan Group (“Swan”). If the deal goes through, Sanlorenzo—which has been the second-largest manufacturer of motor yachts longer than 24 meters in the world—will collaborate with the Finnish luxury sailing gem that Ferragamo relaunched in 1998.
Sanlorenzo’s chairman and CEO, Perotti, stated that if the deal went through, Sanlorenzo would be able to expand its market share in the upscale yachting sector while honoring Swan’s years of experience and knowledge, giving it a distinct advantage. In the highly competitive world of yachting, the combination of the Sanlorenzo and Swan brands into one group would create an unrivaled pole of motor and sailing yachts.
“Swan has a legacy of product excellence unparalleled in the world of high-end sailing yachts,” says Leonardo Ferragamo, Chairman of Nautor Swan. A strategic partnership with the Sanlorenzo group would present several chances to carry on this honorable course with combined investments in cutting-edge technologies, sustainability, and an even wider worldwide network of customer services. Maintaining the distinctive values of the Swan brand while fortifying our long-term vision would be achieved by collaborating with one of the most accomplished groups in the nautical industry.
It’s no secret that Perotti had always wanted to get into sailing. He had attempted to buy Perini Navi, but had given up because the sales terms were deemed to be against group policy. Conversely, Nautor’s Swan made its debut in the powerboat market in 2021 with the Swan Shadow, a 42-foot multifunctional model that can reach top speeds of 55 knots. Depending on its configuration, it can be used as a fishing boat or as a tender for megayachts.
CEO Giovanni Pomati explained:
“We had been thinking about it for some time, but we were waiting for the right moment to offer something different because the motor market is a crowded market compared to sailing, which is more niche.”
As a result, the recently announced agreement may realize Perotti and Ferragamo’s goals of unifying under a single brand at the top of the global nautical rankings.
What will be the large, affluent groups’ next target?
Who will be the next big group’s victim in the future? It reminds us of Hallberg-Rassy, the shipyard that has the highest list prices on the market, creates boats that hold their value over time, and is the pinnacle of northern European shipbuilding craftsmanship (its most recent creation is 69). A brand with high-quality craftsmanship on par with Bottega Veneta (which LVMH acquired). But it will be hard for the Rassy family (Magnus Rassy, the shipyard’s current managing director and Christoph Rassy’s son), to accept offers from big groups.
If we turn our attention to the powerboat industry, Absolute, an Italian company with a rich history of traditional craftsmanship that has transformed into a true Made in Italy luxury brand, might be the right target. Thanks to the wisdom of the Gobbi family and its partners, Absolute has been growing in double digits for years, producing all of its boats in-house at the shipyard in Piacenza. People who pride themselves on their exceptional craftsmanship.
Conclusion: The partnership between Massimo Perotti’s Sanlorenzo group and Leonardo Ferragamo’s Sawa was announced at the end of 2023 and will be the boating event of the next year.
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