Zodiac MILPRO Group Gains A New Future

Feb. 5, 2013 - PRLog -- The new ownership promises to give the company a significant advantage in the competitive market for professional and military inflatable and rigid inflatable boats (RIBs).Oaktree Capital has acquired 100 per cent of the company which joins its diverse portfolio of over 30 key companies. Oaktree now manages some $77 billion worth of capital assets and is the name behind other leading marine companies such as the Ferretti Group, Bavaria Yachts and HANSA Heavy Lift.

The new future means a new logo and corporate image for Zodiac MILPRO which is now completely separate from the recreational activities that were divested by parent company Zodiac Marine and Pool in December 2012.

The new corporate identity means that the Avon brand will no longer be used by Zodiac MILPRO  Group which will offer its products under the two strong and well established brands Zodiac MILPRO and Zodiac HURRICANE.

As a consequence the Llanelli, South Wales-based Avon Inflatables Ltd will now operate as Zodiac MILPRO UK Ltd and will continue manufacturing its current military and professional product range and providing its full range of servicing activities to its customers under the brand Zodiac MILPRO. The declared policy of Oaktree is to endorse the management independence of its companies while remaining available to provide support and guidance when it is needed. This approach will also benefit the market as it is expected to create a new surge of innovation and product development from Zodiac MILPRO.

“This is a very exciting time for us,” said Marc Lavorata, who continues as chief executive of Zodiac MILPRO. “We have several new products and innovations in development that we are planning to launch in the near future. The strong and confident backing of Oaktree Capital will be a major boost to our capabilities and will also benefit our customers, our global network of nearly 200 distributors and our factories and sales offices in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia.”

“The Zodiac MILPRO and Zodiac HURRICANE brand names identify our reputation for product design, quality and support and it has been built upon our commitment to meeting the needs of military or civil customers anywhere in the world. This will not change under our new ownership, in fact we plan to ensure that the only difference our customers might notice is that we become even better at what we do,” said Marc Lavorata.

Zodiac MILPRO supplies inflatable and semi-rigid craft for professional users such as police, coast guard, special forces, anti-terrorism units, fire teams, the offshore industry and other military users. Zodiac MILPRO is headquartered in Paris and its product range also includes high performance Zodiac HURRICANE ® RIBs that are manufactured by the company’s North American arm.  Zodiac MILPRO boats can be supplied as turnkey or custom products that range from 4.7m to 12m long. They are available as inflatable and rigid inflatable configurations that include aluminium or fibreglass hulls, inflatable or foam tubes, diesel inboard or petrol outboard engines and a variety of cabin accommodation designs.

For more information visit:
www.zodiacmilpro.com               for Zodiac Milpro
www.zodiac.com                             for Zodiac Marine & Pool


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Commercial enquiries contact:
David Cazalot
Zodiac Milpro International
32 bis boulevard Haussmann, 75009, Paris, France
Tel + 33 1 82 73 02 70  
david.cazalot@zodiacmilpro.com
Web site  www.zodiacmilpro.com