Konekesko takes over Suvi
By IBI Magazine/Lars-Åke Redéen
Finland's Termalin Oy, builder of the Suvi and Palta boat brands, has been taken over by the Konekesko company as of October 1, 2008. Suvi is said to be one of Finland's leading small boat brands.
"Konekesko sees a positive development for the Finnish boat industry in the long run and wants to further develop its product range to better fit its customers," says Antero Sundberg, sales manager of pleasure machinery at Konekesko. "The development of the Finnish market over the last season has been positive and sales expectations for the coming season are very positive, but we've seen some negative developments in recent weeks."
Konekesko owns the Yamarin boat brand and also serves as a distributor for Finnmaster, Grandezza, Zodiac, Selva, Yamaha and other well-known marine brands in Finland.
Termalin, which has built more than 40,000 Suvi and Palta boats since 1985, will continue as a separate unit within Konekesko. The company has five employees who, together with former owner and managing director Terho Liukkonen, will be employed by Konekesko. Turnover this year reached €4.3 million on the sale of 2,600 boats produced in three different factories.
"After a long career as a company owner, I wanted a strong and stable owner for my company," says Liukkonen. "Sharing the same development philosophy further strengthens my confidence in Konekesko."
The takeover will not affect Suvi's dealer network, which consists of around 90 dealers throughout Finland. Suvi's main export markets are Norway and Sweden.
(1 October 2008)
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