Fincantieri Bets Big on Subsea Services With Four Acquisitions
Fincantieri is branching out from shipbuilding with a big bet on subsea services and technology. It has announced the acquisition of four smaller Italian companies, financed through a capital raise that it completed earlier this year. All of the firms' existing management teams will be retained.
The first acquisition is the offshore survey and subsea construction company NextGeo, a division of the largest Italian offshore services firm, Marnavi Group. As part of Marnavi, NextGeo had access to 15 offshore vessels capable of providing geophysical, geotechnical, environmental surveying, UXO removal and offshore construction support (crane and ROV work). It operated a smaller number of Marnavi's MPSVs under its own banner, including Ievoli Amber, Ievoli Cobalt, Ievoli Relume, Ievoli Ivory and Ievoli Grey. Fincantieri subsidiary IDS has previously worked with NextGeo on the development of a midsize USV designed for open-ocean survey operations. The sale announcement suggested that as a division of Fincantieri, the consultancy would be able to deliver on an "underwater as a service" business model for defense and commercial customers.
Fincantieri has also bought WSense, a spinoff from a lab at a university in Rome. WSense is a growing name in the business of acoustic and optical modems for underwater wireless mesh networks. Its systems have a range of up to 1,000 meters at extremely low bandwidth using sound signals, or modest bandwith at close range using flashing LED lights. In addition to modems, it builds sensor packages for research and monitoring purposes, capable of tracking salinity, temperature, pH, background noise and a wide variety of other parameters.
The third acquisition is the Italian subsea robotics company GraalTech, an established maker of AUVs and small USVs for the offshore and defense markets.
The fourth and last is Defcomm, a maritime satcom integrator and above-water USV designer. Defcomm markets a high-speed USV based on the hull form of the Albatro Evo 28, a high-performance speedboat with a racing pedigree. The unmanned boat is designed for ISR and coastal patrol applications in challenging environments. With a single diesel inboard-outboard, it can hit 50 knots and cruise at 30 knots.
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Fincantieri plans to apply these firms' solutions in combination. As an example, NextGeo will use offshore vessels built by Vard, equipped with Remazel’s launch and recovery systems, deploying Graal Tech’s drones, using connectivity systems provided by WSense - all built by Fincantieri subsidiaries up and down the value chain.
The Italian conglomerate sees growing demand in underwater solutions, particularly for defense applications. Subsea critical infrastructure is a key area of focus for European navies amidst constant pressure from Russia, and Fincantieri thinks that the market is poised for annual growth of 30 percent per year through 2030. Since Fincantieri has strong established relationships in the defense sector, it sees possible synergies with its core business.
"The acquisitions announced today mark a historic transformation for Fincantieri, that creates an international champion in the underwater domain, enabled by full integration across the value chain of technologies," said Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero in a statement.
