Just one week after the insolvency of Bavaria, lightning flashed from the sky over Henan on the western Swedish island of Orust today. The news of Najad's liquidation hit like a thunderstorm. Some may have thought of a series: first the big ones from Franconia, now the fine little ones from Sweden.
But although there are one or two parallels: The situation is actually quite different. Najad is not insolvent and the investor is by no means pulling out.
Nevertheless, Håkan Eksandh made a difficult decision: He informed all employees of the shipyard in the morning that they would lose their jobs after delivery of the yachts still under construction.
Jörgen Ottoson, the managing director, got ahead of this. According to him, he had resigned from the job himself. As YACHT online learnt from the shareholders, it was of course a forced departure. Ottoson had lost the backing of the Supervisory Board following serious losses in previous years and also in the first half of 2018.
According to information from the holding company, the business will be wound up calmly and will not be liquidated at the expense of customers or suppliers. "All invoices will be paid and all boats delivered," a high-ranking manager told YACHT.
Contrary to what was reported by some local sources, this does not mean the end for Najad. "We will continue. We will just move production to Uddevalla in future." Some of the Arcona models have already been built there. The brand, known for solid and successful performance cruisers, has only recently become part of Najad and is better positioned. Hence the decision in favour of an orderly withdrawal from Henan.
Najad thus remains in choppy waters. The shipyard has been shipwrecked twice in recent years: in 2011 and again in 2013. Since the takeover by Håkan Eksandh, there has at least been continuity on the shareholder side.
You will soon be able to read more about the upheaval in YACHT 11-2018, including an exclusive test of the new Najad 395, which made its debut at boot Düsseldorf in January.
