YATCO acquires BoatDeck and YachtandBoat
YATCO, the online multiple listing service for buying, selling and chartering yachts, has completed the acquisition of BoatDeck and YachtAndBoat, two of the largest providers of marine websites and lead generation technology in the Asia Pacific region. The purchase doubles the size of YATCO’s inventory listings and gives a dramatic boost to its international member base.
YachtAndBoat was founded in 2007 as a boating lifestyle website with boat sales classifieds, and boating and safety information to attract new boaters into the market and provide dealers/brokers with an advertising platform to showcase listings. YachtAndBoat.com is now one of Australia’s largest and most well-established boat sales websites, with more than 7,000 new and used boats for sale.
BoatDeck was founded in 2010 and offers a full suite of web development services and boating website design for the marine industry. It was the first to provide multi-list software to the Australian and New Zealand markets and, in the past ten years, has built over 500 websites.
Steven Myers, CEO and founder of YATCO, says: “We are excited to welcome the team at BoatDeck and YachtandBoat onboard with us at YATCO. They have proven themselves as innovators and world-class professionals in consumer-facing websites and lead generation for the boating industry and will greatly complement our team at YATCO. This acquisition will allow YATCO to dramatically expand our international member base, double the size of our inventory offerings of boat listings online, and rapidly accelerate our growth in online consumer markets and lead generation.
“Our combined team will now exceed 50 digital marketing specialists that will remain focused on our goal of serving the best interests of the yachting industry professionals.”
Rebecca Jones, managing director of BoatDeck, says: “This partnership is the natural evolution for our business in Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Our experience in this local market and expertise in web development complements YATCO’s world-leading CRM technology. We are excited to be working with the international YATCO team, drawing from their comprehensive resources and talent to help drive growth in the marine industry.”
YATCO, The Official MLS and Ultimate SaaS Platform of Yachting, is the sole online service dedicated exclusively to central listings by qualified professionals only with over 20 years in the yachts-for-sale marketplace. With over $30 billion in yachts for sale, the company supports more than 2,000 professional yacht brokers and facilitates over $5 billion a year in sold vessel transactions.