EU fund buys majority stake in Jifmar Offshore Services

European infrastructure fund Marguerite II is set to acquire a 65% stake in France’s Jifmar Offshore Services from RAISE Investissement.

Marguerite said it aims to support Jifmar in its transition to next-generation offshore service vessels operations to address the decarbonization challenges of the sector.

As part of the acquisition, 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 the second quarter of the year.

“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 decarbonation of the marine industry,” said Jean-Michel Berud, CEO of Jifmar. 

“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.”

Jifmar operates a fleet of 45 vessels and 34 units of complimentary equipment, including remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), sonars and pontoons.

The company has already 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), green data centre operator Conapto (Sweden) and solar/storage independent power producer ZE Energy (France).