Searchlight Capital Partners to acquire a minority stake in Synergy Marine Group
Funds advised by Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. (“Searchlight”) and Synergy Marine Group (“Synergy”) have announced the completion of Searchlight’s acquisition of a minority ownership stake in Synergy, a leading global ship manager and provider of end-to-end maritime solutions. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Synergy was founded in 2006 by Captain Rajesh Unni and is now the fourth largest ship manager globally, with around 500 vessels under technical management, including tankers, dry bulk, containers and gas carriers. Synergy provides ship owners with mission-critical services including full technical management (e.g. regulatory compliance, maintenance, procurement and remote systems monitoring), crew management (e.g. sourcing and training of seafarers and services like payroll) as well as marine services, (e.g. decarbonization services, seafarer health and wellness, newbuilding design and supervision and project management including for the installation of energy saving devices). Synergy is headquartered in Singapore and operates through a global network of over 25 offices across 13 countries, employing over 1800 people.
Captain Rajesh Unni, Founder and CEO of Synergy said: “We have always believed in and implemented a strong culture of customer centricity in Synergy. Now, to be able to further continue creating incremental value for our clients, we need to look at newer operating models focused on a value driven partnership as opposed to the present vendor mindset in the ship management industry. Amongst other things, this could be driven by digitalization especially considering the increased regulatory complexity and ever growing ESG considerations. Hence, we are excited to partner with Searchlight, who have a strong and demonstrable track record of rigorous transformation and operational excellence execution. With this transaction, we welcome new partners, Searchlight and our fellow Synergy colleagues, into the ownership of Synergy ”
Heber Ramos de Freitas, Partner at Searchlight, commented: “We are excited to partner with Captain Unni, a visionary leader who has established a stand-out competitor in the industry, driven by a culture of customer centricity, excellent execution, continuous investment in its people, environmentally responsible practices and a highly innovative approach to leveraging data. We believe our experience in executing digital transitions makes us well positioned to help accelerate the ambitious growth journey that lies ahead and in doing so contribute towards the transformation of the global maritime ecosystem.”
James Redmayne, Partner at Searchlight, concluded: “At Searchlight we seek to partner with like-minded founders of market leading businesses that are focused on delivering consistently high-quality services to their customers– and with Synergy and Captain Unni we have found the perfect match. This management team, built over many years, has a highly impressive track record of both organic and acquisitive growth and together we look forward to continuing Synergy’s development, while ensuring delivery of the mission to continually improve the shipping industry for all participants.”
Headquartered in Singapore, Synergy’s hallmarks are its through-life approach to asset management and ability to develop custom-designed thought partnership strategies with leading owners. Spanning across a network of 25 offices in 13 countries and employing more than 18,000 seafarers, Synergy manages a fleet of around 500 vessels including the most complex LNG (including FSUs), LPG and vast 20,000+ TEU container ships, as well as oil and chemical tankers, car carriers and bulk carriers. With a strong focus on crew wellbeing, digitalization and environmentally responsible policies, Synergy is at the forefront of transforming the ship management industry.
Searchlight is a global private investment firm with approximately $10 billion in assets under management and offices in New York, London and Toronto. Searchlight seeks to invest in businesses where its long-term capital and strategic support accelerate value creation for all stakeholders.