Ottobock sets sail in a new direction

Prosthetics maker Ottobock has bought an 80% stake in Finnish superyacht builder Baltic Yachts as the two companies look at opportunities to develop products outside of their respective industries.

Baltic Yachts, which had revenues of around €30 million in 2012, built its reputation on its carbon fibre superyachts, while Ottobock is a market leader in carbon fibre prosthetics. It provided the official prosthetics technical service at the London 2012 Paralympics and had revenues of more than €500 million in 2011, the latest numbers available.

A spokesperson for Baltic Yachts told CampdenFB that the two companies will initially focus on the boat business but hope to enter a number of new industries in due course.

"The core will absolutely be in yachting in the future, but the plan is also to expand into manufacturing carbon fibre components for the automotive, aerospace, medical technology, and green energy industries," he said.

Ottobock was named Campden’s family business of the year in 2012 in acknowledgement of its strong adherence to the best practices of a family business and its exceptional innovation in the field of business it works within.

Hans Georg Nader, (pictured, right) Ottobock’s third-gen chief executive, is a big fan of the yacht-builder, and has ordered no less than six yachts from it over the years – the latest is still being built and is due to be delivered in 2017.