Superyacht services firm GYG boosted as ultra-rich prepare to set sail

A Superyacht painting and services firm has built up a record order book as the ultra-rich prepare to set sail once Covid restrictions lift.

GYG has booked orders worth £36million to revamp existing yachts and help build new ones.

The AIM-listed group provides painting and maintenance services for vessels more than 130 ft long in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and the US, such as the one pictured.

Superyacht painting and services firm GYG has booked orders worth £36million to revamp existing yachts and help build new ones

The business has become a takeover target from its second-largest shareholder.

Earlier this month, Harwood Capital, which owns 20.5 per cent of GYG’s stock, made an unsolicited offer to buy GYG for £43million, or 92.5p per share.

Yesterday, GYG’s non-executive chairman, Stephen Murphy, said the company was still mulling over the proposal and sounding out other investors.

He added: ‘When we have feedback from independent shareholders, we will make a further announcement.’

Harwood Capital has until 5pm on May 7 to make a firm takeover bid.

Worries that flights could be disrupted this summer have sent the world’s super-rich scrambling to take holidays on their superyachts.

Before the pandemic wrought havoc, the industry had been buoyed by several years of uninterrupted growth.

But GYG’s sales tumbled 8 per cent in 2020 to £51million, while profits slid from £720,000 to £160,000.

In the first three months of this year, the firm said turnover was 21 per cent ahead of 2020.