Singapore's VC-backed Ascenz sold to trade buyer
Singapore-headquartered Ascenz, a provider of performance solutions for ships, has been acquired by French engineering company Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT), facilitating an exit for investors including Red Dot Ventures.
GTT has bought a 75% interest in the business from founders Yoong Hui Chia and Teck Chong Sia and several investment funds. The founders will retain the remaining 25% and continue to manage the company.
Red Dot provided S$590,000 ($437,000) in seed funding in 2012 and the following year Ascenz won backing from Green Marine Capital, the VC arm of international carrier BW Group. In 2016, the company received S$1 million in venture debt funding through a program launched by SPRING Singapore in conjunction with OCBC, DBS, and UOB.
Ascenz was founded in 2008 as a smart shipping business that designs operational monitoring and performance optimization systems for vessels. Its proprietary technology provides vessel tracking and bunkering monitoring services, as well as enabling customers to monitor fuel consumption, emissions, engine performance, and hull and propulsion performance.
The company’s Shipulse system has been installed on more than 400 vessels across the ocean-going, workboat and bunkering segments. Ascenz has six offices in Asia and two in Europe.
GTT noted there is increasing demand for Ascenz’s services in a shipping industry that is being transformed by digitization. The acquisition is intended to extend the service range of GTT, which focuses on the safe and efficient transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
“This is a particularly important new phase for us. The two companies' complementarity will contribute to accelerate the Group's development in services. With the rise of LNG as fuel, a market in which GTT intends to grow, the energy efficiency systems designed by Ascenz will enable us to provide ship-owners with even more compelling solutions," said Philippe Berterottière, chairman and CEO of GTT, in a statement.
The company generated EUR235.6 million ($278 million) in revenue last year and EUR119.7 million in net profit. As of December 2016, its order book comprised 96 units, of which 86 were LNG and ethane carriers.
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