Maker of revolutionary variable surface drive up for sale; company in charge of sale "anticipates lots of interest"
Yellowfin Ltd, the company behind the Yellowfin propulsion system introduced at the Southampton Boat Show in 2007, has gone into administration.
The company made headlines when its revolutionary variable surface drive (VSD) was first unveiled, but commercial success proved elusive.
Writing as recently as May, the firm’s MD, Anne Duncan, said: “Far from fading from view, we have our manufacturing partner lined up and are ready to go.
“The delay in launching Yellowfin is purely down to financial issues, with our decision not to float the company as the markets started to deteriorate.”
The company was founded in 2001, and ploughed £13m into the development of the drive system for boats between 20ft and 150ft.
Yellowfin made some bold claims about the drive’s efficiency and manoeuvrability, and MBM was certainly impressed in brief trials, writing that “there was no argument the system appears to work”.
Edward Symmons, the company responsible for the sale of the Yellowfin, expects a lot of interest in the technology, saying the drive has a market potential of up to £2.6bn.
“Following the administration of Yellowfin, this niche business is being sold along with the assets of the company. Of most interest to an investor is the patented technology of the business, for which intellectual property rights have been secured,” the company said.
“With such a substantial opportunity to complete the final phases of production and bring the technology to market, with or without the existing manufacturing partner company, we anticipate receiving a lot of interest in this sale.”
Interested parties should contact Steve Mason at Edward Symmons LLP on 020 7344 4500.
