Roca Junyent counselled listed US multinational Brunswick Corp on its acquisition of Fanautic Club, one of the largest boat clubs in Europe with 23 locations in major coastal cities and tourist centres in Spain. Freedom Boat Club, the world’s largest boat club operator and a division of Brunswick Corporation, announced the acquisition of Fanautic. This acquisition accelerates Freedom’s growth in Europe and marks the third European country home to Freedom Boat Club locations, following France and the United Kingdom. Six of Fanautic’s 23 sites will be owned and operated as corporate locations, while the remaining 17 will continue to be owned and operated by franchisees.
Jason Worthy, Vice President of Boating Services, EMEA, stated that the acquisition would allow Freedom to continue its growth across Europe. “Expanding our presence across tier-one European markets is consistent with the aggressive shared-access growth plans that our leadership team outlined during Brunswick’s recent Investor Day presentation,” he said.
The Roca Junyent team comprised partner Xavier Costa and associate Carla Munt.
An Interview With Xavier Costa at Roca Junyent
Please tell us more about your involvement in this acquisition.
Our legal team advised Brunswick Corp’s legal, business and financial teams during the acquisition of the business of Fanautic Club and its operations on over 23 bases in the Spanish Coast. We were involved from early stages of the negotiation process with Fanautic until closing and continued to advise the client following closing.
What expertise did your team bring to the deal?
We provided a multidisciplinary, multilingual team ready to cope with the technical and legal needs of the client and the transaction. Moreover, as we always seek to, we took due care in listening carefully to the client in order to understand well its goals, trying to ensure the client would feel duly advised, informed and comfortable during the whole process. We adapted the requirements of the client to the nature of the target to ensure we would be contributing to a successful completion of the deal.
From a pure technical perspective, we advised the client in Corporate, M&A, Employment, Regulatory, Data Protection, Litigation, Contractual, Commercial, Franchise, Insurance, Real Estate and IP matters.
What impact do you expect this deal will have for recreational boating in Europe?
Having had the chance to meet and work with the people at Brunswick and having experienced first-hand their high level of commitment, readiness and willingness to expand their boat club division in Europe, I have little doubts this will turn into a very successful story for everyone. Brunswick have spent decades defining, creating, and innovating the future of recreational boating. The implementation of their boat club division in Europe is great news for all sea lovers, as the quality boating they offer will be ready and accessible for everyone.
