Marguerite II, a European infrastructure fund, agreed on the acquisition of a 65% stake in Jifmar Offshore Services S.A.S. from RAISE Investissement which has been supporting the company since 2016.
Headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, Jifmar is an integrated marine and engineering solutions provider which operates a fleet of 45 vessels and 34 complimentary equipment (remotely operated underwater vehicles, sonar, pontoons). It employs circa 295 people.
Jifmar was created in 2005 initially to provide operational and safety support services to oil & gas companies. Since then, it has developed into a leading provider of engineering solutions for marine and subsea projects in shallow waters, expanding into the renewable energy, power, telecom, aquaculture, and civil engineering sectors.
As part of the transaction, the co-founders of the company, Jean-Michel Berud, CEO, and Foad Zahedi, chairman of the supervisory board, will remain in place and reinvest in the company alongside Marguerite. The transaction is expected to be completed in Q2 2022.
Marguerite aims to support Jifmar in its transition to next-generation offshore service vessels operations to address the decarbonization challenges of the sector. Jifmar is an innovative company at the forefront of the industry, as demonstrated by the Canopée project jointly developed with Zéphyr & Borée, which entails the construction and operation of the first modern wind-propelled cargo ship specially designed to transport Ariane 6 launcher components from Europe to French Guyana.
Jifmar has also taken steps towards the decarbonization of its fleet by implementing dual fuel or hybrid-electric motoring solutions.
This transaction is Marguerite II’s second investment in 2022 after the acquisition of the biogas industrial group Keon (France), and the sixth in the last 12 months following the investments in intermodal freight transport operator GTS (Italy), district heating developer Rebi (Spain), a green data center operator Conapto (Sweden) and solar/storage independent power producer ZE Energy (France).
“Marguerite is delighted to invest in a market leader in nearshore marine infrastructure services with a sound business model. We look forward to working with Jifmar’s founders and management to provide funding and accelerate the development of the company, especially in growth sectors like Marine Renewable Energy, Aquaculture, and new projects”, said Michael Dedieu, Managing Partner at Marguerite.
“We are proud and excited about this collaboration with Marguerite, enabling Jifmar to secure its position as a leader in offshore marine services and maintaining its unique DNA within the industry. Marguerite will bring a strong network within the energy and telecommunication sectors as well as new investment capabilities. Together with the teams which made the success of Jifmar for the past 16 years, we will accelerate our journey towards the decarbonization of the marine industry
. We worked with RAISE for 5 years during which Jifmar moved from a predominantly Oil & Gas player to a truly global marine services provider, including renewable energies, fish farming, cables, and global marine industrial services. This new step in Jifmar’s history will be highly beneficial for our existing and new clients”, added Jean-Michel Berud, CEO of Jifmar.
“It has been very rewarding to be able to support Jifmar’s development during the past few years, with the company more than doubling its size notably through external growth. We have been very honored to partner with Jean-Michel Berud and Foad Zahedi who successfully reinforced Jifmar diversification. We are convinced that the new partnership with Marguerite will allow them to carry out many more great projects and overcome the new challenges of the sector”, said Alexandra Dupont, Co-Head of RAISE Investissement.
