Nautor Swan expands into UK via Camper & Nicholson

by Mark Bullingham on 24 Jul 2001 he Nautor Group formally announced today, the aquisition
of the historic Camper & Nicholsons yard in Gosport, England. Nautor will
continue to operate the yard, founded in 1782, as Camper & Nicholsons, with
business initiatives designed to turn the yard into a centre of excellence.

Nautor's main objective is to build and refit superyachts at the yard, which
will also act as a service yard for Nautor's Swans. In particular, the yard
will concentrate on one-off projects.

Leonardo Ferragamo, Chairman of the Nautor group, explained the rationale
for the decision: 'We first looked into this opportunity as we could not
conceive that such a prestigious and historical yard could be dismantled and
its workforce, consisting of very skilled boat builders and capable
craftsmen, made redundant. Also, the yard is in such an important area, as
the Solent is one of the centres for yachting in the world.'

'While we shall determinedly re-launch the traditional boat building ability
of Camper & Nicholsons as a long term project, we shall also, along with
Hamble Yacht Services, have the capacity to utilize these facilities to
increase and improve the services for the existing fleet of Swans in the UK
as well as to fine-tune the Swans that have just sailed their first 1400
miles from Finland'.

Nautor's Managing Director, Luciano Scaramuccia is to become chairman of
Camper & Nicholsons,with Pat Lilley, a director of Nautor's English agents
and Mikael Still, Nautor's Chief Financial Officer, appointed as board
members of the company.

Luciano Scaramuccia commented: 'The traditional values of high craftsmanship
of both these companies and the timeless elegance of their products are
excellent assets on which to build the future. Our intention is to have a
great synergy between the two companies and to merge our different
experiences in order to create an important 'centre of excellence'.

The Nautor Group has stated three main areas to concentrate on at the yard.
Firstly, to push forward with the boat building activity. Nautor is aiming
to bring back to Camper & Nicholsons, with a modern perspective, the ability
to build some of the most spectacular one-off designs in the world, whether
built in a traditional manner or using high tech methods. This is a
different market segment to Nautor's Swan as the products themselves do not
overlap and there is a clear differentiation between the brands.

Secondly, the refit market is very important for Camper & Nicholsons.
Nautor wants to maintain the tradition of the workforce that has been
involved in refitting some of the most historic yachts in the world, in an
activity that complements the yacht building business.

Thirdly , there is a large Nautor's Swan fleet in England that can be
serviced at the yard or at Hamble Yacht Services, in addition to the boats
that are travelling down from Pietarsaari. These Swan yachts will now have
a new option for a base, immediately after their initial testing period on
the sail down from Finland. Nautor's Swan now has the ability to control
this area of the after sales process and focus on a high level of quality
for Swan owners.

The Nautor Group is aiming to benefit from the cross experience that can be
generated between the technical and marketing knowledge in Nautor's Swan and
at Camper & Nicholsons.

The acquisition of the Camper & Nicholsons yard reinforces the Nautor Group,
by enlarging its global offering of luxury sailing boats and its credibility
in all areas of business, including after sales service.

The short term aim is to consolidate the turnover of the Camper & Nicholsons
yard - approximately 12 million Euros - and concentrate on its efficiency.

Camper & Nicholson also has a history of working with the Ministry of
Defence, which the new ownership hopes to maintain.

For the successful completion of this deal Nautor was advised by Palazzo
Feroni Finanziaria and Sherwin Oliver Solicitors.

Nautor's Swan was founded in 1966. The company quickly acquired a global
reputation as a builder of luxury sailing yachts capable of outstanding
performance. Nautor's Swan yachts are considered the ultimate ocean-going,
performance, luxury sailing yacht of unrivalled quality.

Nautor has constructed over 1700 yachts ranging form 36 to 112 feet in size.
Nearly 100% of these yachts are still in use, with approximately 60% based
in Europe and 30% in the USA.

In May 1998 Nautor was acquired by an international consortium under the
leadership of Leonardo Ferragamo, an Italian fashion business entrepeneur,
who became the majority shareholder. Since the acquisition, Nautor has
experienced substantial improvement both interms of economic performance and
market leadership.

In 1997, Nautor's net sales were 28 million Euros with a negative EBIT.

From 1998 onwards there has been an escalation in sales and a consolidation
of the profitability of the group. The sales estimate for 2001 is 66
million Euros.