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Arcona Najad: Split in Swedish yacht building

The Arcona and Najad sailboats are going to go their own way. The owner group has decided to give back to the 2 boat brands their independence.

Arcona and Najad separated into 2 companies

The Swedish group Arcona Najad Yachts announced on June 27, 2022 its decision to separate its two yacht brands, creating a dedicated company for each, named Arcona Yachts and Najad Yachts. They will each have an independent management. The group's management committee indicates that Urban Lagnéus, currently at the head of the group, will become the general manager of Arcona, while a new team will be appointed shortly for Najad.

Håkan Eksandh, owner of both yacht brands, explains his choice. "We have carefully considered different strategic options for both brands in order to best accelerate their growth. Our conclusion is that both companies will have a better ability to grow if they are managed as two separate entities with 100 percent focus on each brand."

A strategic shift

The choice announced by the management comes four years after the acquisition in 2018 by Najad of Arcona yachts . The owner was counting on strong synergies between the two brands, which are well established on the Scandinavian market and have a history of over 40 years. After several recruitments, including the general manager Urban Lagnéus in June 2021 and Niels Jeppesen, who came from X yachts in November 2021, it seems that the owner now wants to accelerate and quickly give more notoriety to each of its brands. The images of the Arcona 50 coming off Niels Jeppesen's drawing board have already attracted curiosity and should continue this evolution.

Boatbuilding : Marriage in Sweden: Najad takes over Arcona Yachts

Jochen Rieker

 ·  01.03.2018

Just a few hours before the opening of the Stockholm International Boat Show "Allt for Sjön" Najad surprised the industry yesterday evening. The shipyard, which is based in Henån in western Sweden, is taking over the company operating east of Stockholm. Arcona Yachts . Here the Announcement in the original wording in English.

The purchase brings together two small but excellent boatbuilding companies whose model programmes complement each other well. Najad stands for luxurious cruising yachts, Arcona for high-quality performance cruisers - and both for Swedish quality.

In an interview with YACHT online, Jörgen Ottosson, Managing Director of Najad, said: "With the acquisition, we are expanding our portfolio, which is now unrivalled. With Arcona, we offer boats that can win ocean races, and with Najad, boats for safe and comfortable ocean passages."

Ottosson emphasised that the aim of the acquisition was not to merge the brands. Rather, both would remain independent.

Arcona boss Torgny Jansson will continue to be in charge of the Gustavsberg shipyard, which his parents founded back in the 1960s (when it was still called "Boo Marin"). The Arcona site in the archipelago east of Stockholm will also be retained. Even the dealer network is to remain in place for the time being. The connection between the two shipyards came about by mutual request, so to speak. "I can't say who took the initiative," recalls Jörgen Ottosson. "We at Najad were thinking about expansion, and Torgny Jansson wanted to become part of a larger whole with Arcona. It was an ideal match."

In fact, Jansson was probably also concerned with succession planning in the medium to long term. Although the 62-year-old has a daughter, according to YACHT information, she is said to have shown no interest in taking over the family business. This is why the current solution was the obvious choice.

Together with Najad, Arcona Yachts is set to grow significantly in the future. At least that is the plan. "The brand is extremely well respected and successful, particularly in German-speaking countries, England and Scandinavia. However, it has not yet realised its full potential," says Jörgen Ottosson. He now wants to realise this in the network.

After a subdued sales trend in recent years, he is hoping for a noticeable improvement. The signals from the market are very encouraging. "We are already seeing a sharp increase in demand at both Najad and Arcona."

This is the second attempt by Najad investor Håkan Eksandh, whose investment company Hexiron holds a majority stake, to gain a foothold in the performance segment. The 50-year-old had previously acquired Swedestar. However, the merger with Najad ultimately came to nothing. This is probably one of the reasons why Arcona is to remain independent within the group in future.

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Najad AB acquires Arcona Yachts AB

The combined force of the companies constitutes one of the strongest players within the business and together they employee around 90 people with a turnover above MSEK100. During the spring Najad and Arcona launches several new models.

The companies will coordinate management and administration to the Najad office in Henån on Orust. The companies will continue to design, produce and market their respective product portfolio as before. The CEO of Najad, Jörgen Ottosson, will take on the role as CEO for both companies. Torgny Jansson, who successfully have built up and managed Arcona, sell his company and will be heading the business development.

”It feels inspiring to lead Najad and Arcona into the future. We have together a very broad knowledge and product portfolio. With Torgny Jansson as business developer the heritage from Arcona will be handled in the best of ways.” Says Jörgen Ottosson.

”It feels very exciting to be part of this process; new models and a strengthened sales organization will drive the customer service and experience. I have during many years built the Arcona family and I will continue to safeguard the family and our strong brand.” Says Torgny Jansson.

For further information please contact: Jörgen Ottosson, +46 (0)73-084 91 66, [email protected] Torgny Jansson, +46 (0)70-727 82 33, [email protected]

Arcona and Najad are being strengthened. Management is renewed

• December 20, 2023
• No Comments

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There is a lot of excitement in the Orust Quality Yacht (OQY) group, which includes the shipyards Arcona Yachts, Najad Yachts and the Orust Yacht Service center , CEO Urban Lagnéus , an experienced Olympic sailor with an enviable career and 18 years of experience in senior management roles at Hallberg-Rassy, resigned . Just a few days ago we told you about the new 50-foot Arcona , the first of the Jeppesen era , wrested from X-Yachts by the very former CEO Urban Lagnéus; in his place was appointed Fredrik Malmqvist , formerly the big boss of the OQY group, who will now oversee both Arcona and Najad.

All the news at home Arcona and Najad

But the news does not stop there. As is often the case when the captain changes, the crew has also been renewed! Arcona Yachts has a new management team . Marcus Jungell , a new addition, has been promoted to sales manager and will join the group from January 2024, handling sales for both Arcona and Najad. Marcus has extensive experience in the industry having worked for Nautor Swan, Baltic Yachts, and most recently as sales manager for X Shore, the electric boat manufacturer.

“We are looking forward to having Marcus on the team ,” said Fredrik Malmqvist. “ He has great international experience that will do well in Arcona and Najad. I’m sure it will help us grow and take our brands to the next level .”

In 2022, the board of Arcona Najad Yachts decided to separate the Swedish brands into two different shipyards, Arcona Yachts and Najad Yachts . It was a big change, with Lagnéus becoming CEO in the fall of 2021. The group has made some big investments in recent years: acquired Orust Yacht Service , moved Najad to Henån on Orust Island , built a new showroom , and acquired the production yard of Arcona Yachts, Sail Yard .

Håkan Eksandh, owner of the OQY group , is optimistic: “This restructuring will grow Arcona, Najad and Orust Yacht Service and allow us to take full advantage of the wealth of knowledge and manpower we have within the group for the benefit of our customers .”

Boats by sailors, for sailors

Arcona and Najad are two historic Swedish premium brands . They share high quality standards but come from two different worlds. The first, Arcona, is oriented toward racing and fast cruising ; the second, Najad, has a history related to long ocean cruising . In the 1980s, in fact, if you were looking for a boat of the kind now called Blue Water, the Najad was tops, along with the Hallberg-Rassy.

In Italy the official importer of Arcona is Schmidt & Partner International Yachtbrokers . The Aprilia Marittima (Udine) company has been involved in boat buying and selling and marine insurance services, among other things, since 1979.

James Barbaro

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Production of Najad to be continued in the Western Archipelago of Sweden

A change of pressure requires a new sail configuration. The yachts of Najad will continue to be built in the west coast of Sweden by Sail Yard, a boat yard located in Uddevalla with modern facilities. Najad is already collaboration with Sail Yard since a while back and are looking forward to continuing the partnership. The same boat yard also builds Arcona’s larger models, 465 and the newly launched 435.

Since March 1st, Najad and Arcona are sister companies with the same owner. The board is now taking a major step for both brands with a synchronized business model and production line.

The new business model does not affect Najad’s subcontractors. Najad will continue to work as previously for the best result regarding quality and design of sailing yachts for the premium segment. The change means that Najad and Arcona goes from three production sites to two efficient and modern facilities.

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Swedish boat brands announce split

Monday, June 27th, 2022

Written by: Marine Industry News

The board of directors of Arcona Najad Yachts AB has decided to split the well-known Swedish brands into two separate companies; Arcona Yachts AB and Najad Yachts AB.

Arcona’s operation will continue to be run by the same team led by CEO Urban Lagnéus , while Najad will establish a new CEO and board. 

“We have carefully considered different strategic options for both brands in order to best accelerate their growth. Our conclusion is that both companies will have a better ability to grow by being run as two separate entities with a 100 per cent focus on each brand,” says Håkan Eksandh, owner of Arcona Yachts AB and Najad Yachts AB. 

Established in Sweden in 1969, the Arcona yacht fleet has six performance cruiser models from 34ft to its new 50-foot flagship . 

Najad Yachts is a producer of exclusive sailing yachts from the island of Orust in Sweden. The first Najad was produced in 1971 and today the Najad range consists of five models ranging from 39-57ft. 

The split of the companies will take effect immediately and further enquiries can be made to Urban Lagnéus at Arcona Yachts or Najad at  [email protected] . 

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Urban Lagnéus appointed new CEO of Arcona Najad Yachts AB

As the current CEO is leaving the company during the summer to join another company in the yachting industry, the board has appointed Urban Lagnéus as the new CEO. Urban has a solid background both as a sailor and has had different leading positions within the yachting industry for many years. Urban will join the company in his new role during the Autumn of 2021.

“ We have had a huge interest in the role, ” says Håkan Eksandh, owner of Arcona Najad Yachts AB. “ We are very pleased to have such an experienced and knowledgeable person joining the company and leading it forward. The yachting industry is experiencing a huge increase in demand and Arcona Najad has made large investments into quality development and their range of yachts in the past years. ”

“ I am very pleased and excited to be making my return to the industry after a little bit of time away, ” says Urban, continuing: “ and, in addition to that, lead two respected and well-known brands and making a sales and marketing push primarily in Europe, but also USA, gives us the opportunity to both get new clients and take care of our existing ones. “

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