French Private Equity Firm Buys Vigor Industrial

French private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners has reached an agreement to buy the American shipyard company Vigor Marine Group, bringing new foreign ownership to a key ship repair partner for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.

Vigor, previously owned by Lone Star Funds, has expanded through serial acquisitions in recent years. It now includes five yards on the West and East Coasts near key fleet concentration areas: Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, within reach of the constellation of bases in Puget Sound; San Diego, home of 3rd Fleet; and Norfolk, the world's largest naval base complex. In addition to government ship repair services for sealift ships, warships, icebreakers and cutters, the yards conduct specialty vessel construction and commercial ship repair.

Vigor Marine Group brought in $1 billion in revenue in 2024, and has about 2,700 employees across all of its sites. It has deep roots in U.S. defense work: its home-office site at Swan Island, Portland was developed by Kaiser Shipbuilding to construct tankers for the war effort in 1942, and the original assembly sheds remain today.

The current management team under CEO Francesco Valente will remain in charge of the firm under new ownership.

"We’re thrilled to be partnering with Vigor Marine Group, which represents exactly the kind of long-term investment we pursue – essential U.S. infrastructure assets that require sustained capital commitment and operational continuity," said Ryan Shockley, senior partner at Antin.

The new owner says that it plans to invest in technology, capacity and workforce development to grow Vigor's business, with specific interest in "the growing importance of the U.S.'s Pacific seaports."

"Antin takes a disciplined, long-term approach to investing in facilities, technology and workforce development to ensure operational continuity and resilience," said Valente. "This partnership provides the added resources we need to take the next step in our long-term strategy."

Vigor is an important component of the U.S. industrial base for small and unmanned combatants. It recently began production for the U.S. Army's new landing craft design at its Vancouver facility, and it has a joint-venture agreement with American drone boat builder Saronic on boat repair services. It also has a ship-repair agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries, which wants to break into the U.S. Navy's maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business.