Two UK-based Russian investors look set to become the new owners of Fairline Boats and plan to keep production in Britain
Fairline Boats looks set to be bought by Russian investors Alexander Volov and Igor Glyanenko in a deal that is due to be announced later this week at the Dusseldorf Boat Show.
The UK-based businessmen have had an offer accepted to buy the company for a fee believed to be in the region of £4million.
Karl Gilding, former head of yacht sales at Fairline, has been named as Director of Fairline Acquisitions Ltd, however he stressed this is a temporary measure to facilitate the sale.
Karl (pictured below) told MBY: “We have made the offer, we have paid a deposit, but until such time as the cheque is paid the company isn’t ours.”
Only one of Fairline’s three premises is included in the sale and Fairline Acquisitions Ltd plans to negotiate renting the remaining two sites, which would be a continuation of the arrangement under Better Capital’s tenure.
The investors will also take responsibility for finishing all remaining uncompleted boats, and they plan to resume production before analysing the state of Fairline’s model range to decide whether it needs to change or not.
Administrators FRP Advisory refused to confirm the deal, despite their deadline for offers passing last Friday.
A spokesman for the administrators told The Daily Telegraph: “We continue to engage with interested parties and a number of boats have been completed since Fairline entered administration.”
MBY understands that two offers were made to buy Fairline Boats, however the administrators gave preference to the Russian investors as they were keen to keep production in the UK.
Primary UK dealer Bates Wharf plans to relaunch the Fairline brand at the British Motor Yacht Show in May.
