Beverly Hills-based buyout shop Platinum Equity has sold a yacht and cruise outfitter to Italian private equity firm Renaissance Partners.
Neither Platinum nor Renaissance disclosed financial details for the handoff of Genoa-based De Wave Group, but a source close to the transaction told Reuters the company sold for $465 million. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
De Wave, a maker of interiors for yachts and cruise ships, more than doubled its revenue and EBITDA since Platinum bought it in 2019. A series of acquisitions drove that growth, expanding “product offering, technical capabilities and international footprint,” the firm said in a statement. That included the January purchase of DL Services, a French designer of marine galleys, alongside five other acquisitions, according to the company’s website.
“When we acquired De Wave, we saw a technically strong business with the potential to become a more integrated global leader,” said Platinum co-president Louis Samson in a statement. “Within months, the company was operating near the epicenter of Europe’s initial COVID-19 outbreak while serving an industry brought to a near standstill.”
This year, the company is aiming to shoot above its record 2025 revenue of €400 million, or roughly $465 million, to reach €500 million, about $580 million.
Scaling ‘capabilities’
Platinum and De Wave’s seven-year relationship brought both firms the exposure they were after. Samson said Platinum strengthened relationships with founders and management teams in Italy, and working with Platinum brought De Wave – now operating five facilities employing 1,400 people in Italy, Poland, Singapore and the U.S. – to new markets.
“Together, we expanded our capabilities, strengthened our international presence and created a more integrated platform that can support customers throughout the lifecycle of a vessel,” said Riccardo Pompili, De Wave’s chief executive, in a statement.
The De Wave exit wasn’t Platinum’s first-time trading portfolio companies with Renaissance. In 2020, the Beverly Hills-based firm acquired Italian specialty wine producer Fantini Group, one of its active investments, from Renaissance.
