Twisted Marine acquires marine engineering business West Marine Services
Specialist M&A Advisory firm First Peninsula Marine confirms completion has taken place on its sale of Brighton-based West Marine Services.
The marine engineering business, which provides powerboat service, repair and supply services, was purchased by Twisted Marine, sister company to Twisted Automotive, and will join the Twisted Marine group of companies and continue to scale its operations as part of the larger business.
Twisted Marine said the acquisition would support its plans to grow its market presence in the marine sector and help cement its reputation for building and enhancing power boats.
West Marine is an authorised dealer for Volvo Penta, Mercury Marine and Yanmar and the business will strengthen Twisted Marine’s dealership links to support customers across the whole of the south coast.
Based in a 1,900 sq ft facility at Brighton Marina Village, West Marine was founded in 2005 and has developed a reputation as a one-stop shop for all types of leisure craft, from small tenders to large yachts. The business’s current owner, Mike West, will exit the business.
Twisted Founder Charles Fawcett said:
“There are some excellent synergies between our two marine engineering businesses, which together will provide us with a wider client base and expanded capabilities across the south coast. The cultures within the two organisations are remarkably similar, which will ensure a smooth integration and enable us to quickly get on with scaling Twisted Marine further.
“West Marine Services is a second-generation engineering company, with significant engineering knowledge to bring to the Marine Services Group of the future. We very much look forward to welcoming the West Marine team to Twisted, and working together with them to create a centre of marine engineering excellence, firmly putting Twisted Marine on the map as a household name in the marine industry.”
North Yorkshire-based Twisted entered the marine market in November 2020 when Fawcett acquired Devon-based SMS (Salcombe) Ltd for an undisclosed sum and rebranded it as Salcombe Marine Services. Twisted Marine is currently reviewing a number of additional acquisitions to bolster its growth plans.
Twisted Marine is run by Fawcett and Managing Director Jake Cronk, a fully qualified marine engineer and member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers who holds a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He joined the business following a career with the Mercedes AMG Formula 1 and Formula E teams.
First Peninsula Marine acted as advisors and agents to West Marine Services.
About First Peninsula Marine
First Peninsula Marine is a specialist business sales and acquisitions agency focused exclusively on the marine and maritime sectors. Operating nationally to provide a range of strategic advisory services to business owners, trade buyers, financial institutions and private investors. First Peninsula Marine advises on a wide range of instructions from £multimillion corporate finance backed transactions and strategic plc acquisitions to local owner-managed business sales.
About West Marine Services
Marine engineering business West Marine Services provides powerboat service, repair and supply services, as well as being an authorised dealer for Volvo Penta, Mercury Marine and Yanmar.
About Twisted Marine
Twisted Marine is the sister company to Twisted Automotive, and builds and enhances power boats from its Salcombe Marine Services base.