Wärtsilä Acquires Trident B.V.
Wärtsilä said it has acquired Netherland based Trident B.V., a specialist in underwater ship maintenance, inspection and repair services. The acquisition is expected to close in January 2018.
The enterprise value of the transaction is €17.5 million ($20.8 million) and an additional €3.5 million ($4.2 million) earn-out, based on the business performance in the coming years. The turnover of Trident is approximately €9 million ($10.7 million).
Trident Group specializes in repair, overhaul, and maintenance of propulsion systems, hull and machinery, with fully equipped workshops and certified personnel in the Netherlands, Italy, and Canary Islands.
With the acquisition, Wärtsilä – which has long provided underwater services through partnerships – expands its 'vessel-as-a-service' value offering and becomes the first global operator in the underwater services market. As a result, Wärtsilä said it is able to integrate Trident's services with analytics from Wärtsilä’s Eniram, which provides energy management technology to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
"This acquisition supports Wärtsilä's strategy on several fronts, starting from Wärtsilä's purpose to enable sustainable societies with smart technologies. Reduced fuel consumption, efficiency improvements and higher utilisation rates are always on the top of the operators' agenda," explained Tamara de Gruyter, Vice President, Area North Europe and Propulsion System Services, Wärtsilä Services. "At the same time, environmental issues are becoming an integral part of customers' business planning. Trident is a pioneer in the development of environmentally sound solutions, for example, hull cleaning."
"We have identified several synergies between the companies, such as the ability to develop more specific products due to increased knowledge, and thus provide an even more enhanced offering to our customers," said Adrie Huijbregts, Managing Director, Trident B.V.
Trident and Wärtsilä have previously cooperated in research and development. One result of this cooperation has been the jointly developed Wärtsilä-Trident Thruster preservation bag.