Bavaria goes underwater

German boatbuilder, Bavaria has filed to go into administration before the District Court Würzburg last week, after facing payment difficulties, according to a German Press Agency. Also, two of its major investors: Oaktree Capital Management and Anchorage Capital Partners have denied additional funding to the company. Although Bavaria yacht is currently in operation, it has not filed for bankruptcy. Customers who have recently signed purchase agreements with the company are going to face big headaches.

According to the new marine industry intelligence service, IBI Plus, it will report as soon as more details are released by Bavaria.

According to Sail-world in a conversation with Bavaria’s Australian Agent, Tony Ross of Ensign Ship Brokers, “It seems they have taken this move into Administration to take stock and work out how to move forward.”

Currently, the boating company have nine boats in the pipeline such as C65, which is “now only available for April 2019 build slots and the new R55 is also sharing a fill 12-month wait… We have a C57 due to be finished in late September, and its queue now goes into the new year.”

Ross added that “this is not the first time something like this has happened in the boatbuilding industry, where cash is king, and timelines can be quite long.” A break in momentum can be quite disheartening for those who are affected.

Founded 40 years ago by entrepreneur Winfried Herrmann, Bavaria started building boats in the Franconian town of Giebelstadt in southern Germany. He was the first in Germany to introduce a modern assembly line production to boatbuilding. Over the years, Bavaria’s yachting business grew from strength-to-strength and produced about 3,500 sailing and motor yachts. Today, the company employs about 600 staff.

In addition, Bavaria Yacht was named one of the top three global market leaders for yachts ranging from 30 to 56 feet. Since its establishment 40 years ago, over 1,000 sailing yachts and motorboats have been built on the shipyard of Bavaria Yachts in Giebelstadt.

For more details about Bavaria Yachts, please visit the official website here.