By DIVE Staff
The HEAD Group, owners of Mares dive equipment and dive training agency Scuba Schools International (SSI) has taken over the Aqualung Group, which was placed into receivership on 16 May this year.
A possible takeover was announced in April after Aqualung was found to have struggled financially since its acquisition by Barings in December 2023
HEAD, which also owns dive gear manufacturer Apeks, rEVo Rebreathers, scuba travel company liveaboard.com and Australian swimwear brand Zoggs, announced it is to put forward a €50 million rescue package which will be part of a ‘comprehensive integration plan’ to rescue the struggling business.
The takeover will involve a restructuring of the Aqualung Group’s business platform which will see ‘hundreds of jobs saved’ at Aqualung’s current production facilities in France, with facilities in the UK and Mexico to be ‘improved and expanded’.
The news of the takeover was announced in a statement posted on the Mares website:
As per a judgement rendered by the Commercial Court of Nice on June 26th, HEAD has been declared the winning party in a bid for the troubled Aqualung Group which was placed in receivership on May 16th.
Building on its existing portfolio in Winter Sports, Racquet Sports, Sportswear, and Water Sports, the transaction will significantly strengthen HEAD’s presence in the Water Sports segment by expanding its brand portfolio beyond its established Water Sports brands that include Mares, SSI, rEvo, Liveaboard.com and Zoggs.
HEAD is planning a restructuring of the AQUALUNG Group business platform and will provide urgent funding to secure the continuation and long-term sustainability of the group.
As such, the HEAD Group has offered a rescue package of over €50 million along with a comprehensive integration plan with significant synergies. It will see hundreds of jobs saved and Aqualung’s current production facilities in France, the UK and Mexico improved and expanded.
The combined group becomes the world leader in the global Water Sports market, uniting two iconic players driven by safety, technical excellence, innovation, comfort and design, performance, and passion for sport and aquatic exploration.
HEAD will maintain and develop the Aqualung, Apeks and Aquasphere brands and reinforce its strategic and growing military and professional division.
HEAD also plans to build on Aqualung Group’s production capabilities to support the global production and distribution of premium products. The combined expertise of the two companies will accelerate market leadership and open new opportunities to broaden access to water sports worldwide.
Aqualung, founded in 1943 by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan, was the first company to successfully produce a commercially available open-circuit demand valve – the forerunner of the modern scuba diving regulator.
Its products are distributed in more than 90 countries and popular with military and professional divers, as well as in the world of recreational divers.
Originally founded in the US in 1947 as a skiing equipment company, HEAD became a household name in the 1970s as a manufacturer of the first aluminium tennis racquets.
The group acquired Mares in 1971 and SSI in 2014, and says the training agency’s revenue has more than doubled over the last decade.
