Fender Innovations of Wieringerwerf, manufacturers of lightweight fender systems for fast-sailing vessels, has completed a commercially important acquisition. The new partner is PolyMarine Service based in Vlaardingen, manufacturers of cast fender systems for slightly heavier workboats. Both companies will form part of the Fender Innovations Group.
For Fender Innovations, this is the first acquisition since the company was founded in May 2012. The company continues to grow and has reported a 25 percent rise in production across the whole of 2021. Some 85 percent of the fenders manufactured by the company are intended for export to around 40 different countries. Technical director of Fender Innovations, Koos Bijsterveld, expects the acquisition of PolyMarine Service to lead to further growth in production, “As a result of the acquisition, from now on we will be able to offer our international customer base a much wider range of innovative fender systems. The products from the two companies complement each other perfectly.”
Erik de Neef, chairman of the board of the Koninklijke Roeiers Vereniging Eendracht (KRVE) and Peter Budde, founder and co-owner of PolyMarine Service, share this opinion. “We are delighted that PolyMarine Service, a company established in 2007, finds itself in good hands with a solid partner like Fender Innovations, and will be able to expand further in the maritime sector.” The Vlaardingen base of the newly acquired company will continue to operate. Because many of the customers of Fender Innovations are located in the port of Rotterdam, it is useful to also have a production location and a warehouse in which stock products can be stored, in the area.
Although the shares of PolyMarine Service were officially transferred on 24 March, the acquisition of the company is effective retroactively, to 1 January 2022. In the words of managing director Roemer Boogaard of Fender Innovations, “The name of the company in Vlaardingen will be changed to Poly Marine Fender Systems. That new name better reflects the scope of the business. Both companies are now officially part of the Fender Innovations Group of Wieringerwerf.”
