Flexiteek, a company founded in 2000 with the aim of revolutionising the traditional teak market have announced the acquisition of F3 Flexiteek Friesland B.V based in the Netherlands. Their products work by extruding ‘planks’ out of PVC, which acts as an innovative solution which looks much similar to teak. Flexiteek also claims that their product offers various significant performance advantages.

Speaking to SuperyachtNews Tomas Gustafsson, Flexiteek’s President and CEO stated, "We have already worked with a number of superyachts in the past and around six months ago we decided to really tackle this part of the market. We are expecting to also have a lot of business coming from secondhand superyacht sales rather than just solely on the new-builds.” When questioned about the recent reports of teak being illegally trafficked through Italy into Northern Europe Gustafsson responded, “Those updates I suppose are good for our business as more people become aware then they will towards more sustainable solutions rather than traditional methods.”

The owner of the company, Anders Wilhelmsen Sr, is an entrepreneurial Norwegian with a strong heritage in shipping. Wilhelmsen SR led the team through a stint of two years of development to introduce Flexiteek 2G in 2014 which set a new benchmark for upmarket alternatives to teak, not least by solving the previous problem of getting too hot underfoot.

The agreement, signed on the 14th January 2022, is intended to strengthen Flexiteek Internationals position as the market leader. The newly acquired company will be known as ‘Flexiteek Superyacht’. ‘Flexiteek Superyacht’ adds an established fabrication centre using the latest CNC technology to supply the superyacht industry. The business has been fabricating decks for new and refit projects since 2014 and delivers dozens of decks a year.  

In March, work will begin on a new 4,500 square metre state of the art factory in the city of Sneek, The Netherlands, enabling them to dramatically increase capacity and offer extensive training facilities. The acquisition follows on from the establishment of a new manufacturing operation ‘Flexiteek Marine Products’ in Ostroda, Poland in early 2021. The operation manufactures and supplies panels for the growing OEM market. 

Tomas Gustafsson, Flexiteek’s President and CEO concluded, "Being able to exercise in-house training, knowledge and experience on a much bigger scale is what makes this is an exciting year for Flexiteek. We’ve been delivering decks for over 22 years and partnering with an established business in the superyacht sector, this enables us to focus on customers with every boat type from tenders to superyachts". 

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