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Hermes to exit luxury yacht joint venture with Wally
Hermes is exiting a luxury yacht joint venture with shipbuilder Wally, stating that they are not experienced enough to complete the superyacht project according to news on Reuters.
The two partners had unveiled a full-sized model of their mega yacht, “WHY” - Wally Hermes Yacht, and had a stand at the Adu Dhabi Yacht Show 2010 last month.
The statement issued by Hermes explained “We are currently in the phase of carrying out the project, which is technically complex and which requires on-the-spot decisions.”
"It seemed a good idea to us to have only one decision-maker and we naturally decided to hand the reins over to Wally."
“Although Hermes also works on helicopter design in partnership with EADS, it does not have comparable ship design experience” said Hermes CEO Patrick Thomas on Thursday.
Hermes, which is famous for its silk scarves and handbags, will sell its stake to Monaco-based Wally and will be paid back via commissions on boat sales through to 2020, Thomas said.
The price of the WHY superyacht, which recently went on display at the Abu Dhabi yacht show, ranges between 50 million euros ($68.40 million) to 100 million.
View video of WHY Superyacht:
"It seemed a good idea to us to have only one decision-maker and we naturally decided to hand the reins over to Wally."