The Couach Group announced recently that it has been sold to Nepteam. The Vial family owned Couach Yachts since 2009 and have been steadily looking to sell since the spring of 2011.
Couach 3700 Motor Yacht Arion
The family business was founded by Albert Couach in 1897, initially making marine engines for use in Arcachon Bay. The company remained in the hands of the Couach family for over a hundred years, moving into boat-building during the 20th century. Recognised worldwide for the reliability of its craft, in recent years the company had been looking for new financial resources to secure its development.
Specialising in the design, construction and marketing of luxury 20- to 50-metre yachts for demanding customers, Couach has traditional know-how and skills that are synonymous with quality and perfect finishing. Its craft are sought-after as much for their robustness as for their exceptional sea-going qualities.
Couach also builds patrol boats and launches from composite materials for French and foreign fleets, ultra-fast craft renowned for their unrivalled seaworthiness, and has a marine maintenance activity in Toulon.
Nepteam, which has acquired all the shares in the Couach Group from the Vial family, is owned by industrial investors keen to preserve this part of the living heritage of Arcachon Bay.
Nepteam intends to preserve and expand employment both at the Gujan Mestras shipyard and at Couach’s other sites. The yacht maintenance activity will be redeployed to the former naval air station at Toulon, around the existing Saint Mandrier site. Nepteam’s objective for the future is to roll out a boat-building research programme focusing on technological and scientific developments in materials and propulsion technologies.
Another aspect will be the inclusion of environmental concerns in boat design. In doing so, Nepteam aims to contribute to the revitalisation of industry in the Aquitaine region.
Nepteam’s chairman is Christian Chevalier, a local businessman and former president of ADERA, the Association for the Development of Teaching and Research in Aquitaine.
