TY Offshore and Trinity Yachts Form Gulf Coast Shipyard Group with Investment Partner

TY Offshore and Trinity Yachts announced the formation of the Gulf Coast Shipyard Group along with its new investment partner, Littlejohn & Co., a multi-billion dollar private equity firm based in Greenwich, CT.   Gulf Coast Shipyard Group will own and operate two major Gulf Coast based shipyards engaged in the new construction of commercial, military and luxury yachts.  The Company will also operate International Yacht Collection (IYC), a wholly owned yacht brokerage unit.

Management—which has a long history of building and operating major diversified shipbuilding operations—is enthusiastic about its partnership with Littlejohn, which has a well-established track record of investing in and working with management teams to build significant competitive enterprises in their target industries.  In addition to other positive industry dynamics, management and Littlejohn view the growth opportunities in the Gulf Coast as historic in proportion.   Felix S. Sabates Jr. will step down as Chairman to become an advisor and consultant to the new organization.

John Dane III, President and CEO of TY Offshore and Trinity Yachts stated that “Littlejohn has an impeccable reputation along with the ability to bring equity, strategy and experience in order to successfully grow and diversify our operations.  In addition, I am also happy to announce that we will be starting a long-planned $9 million capital improvement program to the Gulfport, Mississippi yard which will increase our efficiency and annual output. These improvements will also upgrade our Syncrolift to 4,300 tons in anticipation of ice class vessels for Arctic operations. All told, we expect these events will further establish our operations as a premier builder and major employer.”

Edmund J. Feeley, Managing Director of Littlejohn, said, “We look forward to our partnership with the Gulf Coast management team to continue the company’s strong growth trajectory into new markets.  The company has a strong backlog of orders, and oil and gas drilling and production activity is expected to remain strong with demand for vessels serving this industry expected to continue, as well as vessels targeted for other commercial and military markets.”