Wärtsilä acquires Transas in €210M deal

Wärtsilä is acquiring Transas in a deal that has an enterprise value of €210M (US$258M) to accelerate its strategy to create smart marine ecosystems. This merger will combine Transas’ e-navigation, training simulation and vessel traffic control with Wärtsilä’s integrated bridge, condition monitoring and power generation technologies.

With this acquisition, Wärtsilä takes a significant step closer to achieving its mission of enabling sustainable marine businesses with smart technologies. Wärtsilä Marine Solutions president Roger Holm said this purchase will accelerate Wärtsilä’s promise to disrupt the industry by establishing an ecosystem that is digitally connected across the entire supply chain, through applications that are secure, smart and cloud-based.

“We are in a position to put all this into reality,” he said. “Connecting all so that vessels can be operated in an efficient way for less costs, lower emissions and safety for people involved.”

A combined package will improve the way a vessel can sail and be manoeuvred in the most cost-efficient and environmentally friendly way. “It brings the future of shipping closer to realisation,” said Mr Holm.

Transas’ workforce of around 1,000 employees will be integrated within Wärtsilä’s marine solutions business. Its large base of software engineers will play a key role in assisting Wärtsilä with the development of future smart products and a digital platform.

Under the leadership of chief executive Frank Coles, Transas was developing a cloud-based platform for connecting ship bridge systems with ship traffic control, fleet managers and training academies. This concept, known as THESIS, was being transformed into reality with the development of technology such as artificial intelligence.

Mr Holm said Wärtsilä would continue to invest in this platform under its own smart marine ecosystem as “growth will come from connecting the dots.”

“There are a lot of inefficiencies in navigation, fuel consumption and power generation. We can optimise power production with navigation and port arrival – we can combine our portfolio with Transas products,” Mr Holm added.

Transas, headquartered in Portsmouth, UK, has annual net sales of €140M, 22 regional offices worldwide and a distribution network that spans 120 countries.

Wärtsilä, headquartered in Finland, has a history of expanding its business through acquisitions as it purchased the marine business of L3 in 2015, which added a sizable cruise ship bridge systems business. In 2016 it acquired Eniram and its vessel monitoring technology and in 2017 Wärtsilä bought UK-based Guidance Marine and its dynamic positioning sensor solutions.