Performance Yacht Painting acquires one-third stake in Ve.Ga Yachts

A new Franco-Italian partnership for yacht painting and fairing has been established following the acquisition, by Performance Yacht Painting (PYP) of France, of a one-third stake in northern Italy-based finishing and fairing company, Ve.Ga Yachts. This will be increased to a two-third stake by the end of this year, giving PYP a majority holding.

Ve.Ga Yachts and PYP have been working together since January 2015 when they formed a partnership to bid jointly for projects. The share purchase represents a strengthening of that relationship and reflects the ambitions of both companies to expand their respective operations.

“This is a natural step for both companies who have been working together on a number of refit and new-build projects in France and Italy over the past eight years,” reads a joint statement. “Both companies are of similar size and reputation with a combined turnover of approximately €15m and a staff of 250 painters and fairing specialists in high season.”

Ve.Ga Yachts, based in Albissola Marina, near Savona, has considerable experience in finishing and fairing on new-builds, having worked on over 250 projects since their inception in 1986. The company has worked with leading international yacht builders such as Azimut Benetti, Baglietto, CRN, Italian Sea Group, Tankoa and Wally.

A specialist in finishing and refinishing, PYP has developed proprietary techniques enabling them to obtain unrivalled quality levels that consistently exceed ICOMIA-recommended GU levels (95+). PYP has worked on over 300 yachts from its base in Villfrance-sur-Mer.

“The fairing and paint industry is largely monopolised by a few very large players and multiple small service companies,” says Gilles Delpy, PYP managing director. “We believe that shipyards in Europe will be interested in working with a new mid-size player who can provide competitive prices while maintaining close customer relations. We have been wanting to increase our presence across the border for several years, so this acquisition is an important step in our strategy to grow our business.”

Gaetano Vella, founding director of Ve.Ga Yachts, adds: “We have demonstrated over the past 30 years that Italy still very much houses the ‘Italian Masters’. Our activity, which consists in sculpting the shape of a superyacht, is highly complementary to the faultless brushwork to be found at PYP. This is a natural next step in our relationship and we plan on further merging our businesses.”