Boats Group Announces Investment from General Atlantic and CPP Investments

Permira to Remain a Significant Minority Investor, Continuing Successful Five-Year Partnership

MIAMI, Dec. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Boats Group ("the Company"), a global provider of online marketplaces for boats and yachts, today announced a strategic growth investment from General Atlantic, a leading global investor, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPP Investments"). As part of the transaction, funds advised by existing investor Permira have partially realized their investment in Boats Group and will retain a significant minority shareholding, continuing its successful partnership with the Company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Boats Group operates the world's most trusted online marketplaces for buying and selling boats, including Boat Trader, YachtWorld, and boats.com. For over 30 years, Boats Group has connected boat buyers and sellers at scale. Throughout that time, the Company has consistently been first to market with innovations that move the industry forward, delivering tech-first upgrades to a vertical marketplace that have taken other platforms years to deliver.

In recent years, Boats Group has invested in products and technology that make discovering and buying a boat more effortless and enjoyable, while helping sellers succeed. From a more immersive marketplace to new mobile experiences and intuitive dealer tools, the Company is reimagining the entire journey from discovery to purchase. With AI-powered merchandising, clearer reporting, and smarter workflows, Boats Group is creating a more connected, efficient, and inspiring experience for boating enthusiasts and the broader marine community.

"We're excited to welcome General Atlantic and CPP Investments as partners. Their investment recognizes the passion and dedication our team has brought to modernizing the marine marketplace and strengthens our commitment to building an even smarter, more connected experience going forward," said Patrick Kolek, CEO of Boats Group. "We're also grateful for Permira's continued trust and partnership. Their support over the past five years has allowed us to stay focused on what matters most: serving our community."

Chris Caulkin, Managing Director and Head of Technology for EMEA at General Atlantic, commented: "Under Pat's leadership, Boats Group has undergone a remarkable transformation into a data-driven, tech-first organization with product innovation at its core. Their long-standing, central and crucial role within the boating ecosystem positions them well to leverage AI to continue developing high-quality products for their broker and dealer partners. We believe Boats Group is poised to benefit from powerful structural tailwinds, including the continued shift offline to online, and the broader digitalization of the market." 

Sam Blaichman, Managing Director and Head of Direct Private Equity at CPP Investments, added: "Boats Group is a category-defining leader in a market still early in its digital and AI-led evolution. As a long-term investor, we see a compelling opportunity to back a mission-critical platform with strong network effects, a customer-centric business model that delivers clear value to buyers and sellers, and significant runway to broaden its offering and expand globally. We look forward to partnering with General Atlantic, Permira and the management team to support Boats Group in its next phase of growth and believe it will deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns for CPP contributors and beneficiaries." 

David Erlong, Partner and Global Co-Head Consumer at Permira, said: "This transaction is a testament to the remarkable growth and innovation Boats Group has achieved in a sector still on the cusp of digital transformation. During our partnership, the business has rapidly expanded its global footprint and broadened its service offering and cutting-edge product development. We are thrilled to continue supporting Pat and the Boats Group team, and to welcome General Atlantic and CPP Investments in this next chapter."

As part of the transaction, General Atlantic's Chris Caulkin and Andrea Calabrò will join the Boats Group Board of Directors. Permira's David Erlong and Shreya Kadaba will remain on the Board of Directors. CPP Investments will appoint two members to the Boats Group Board of Directors upon closing of the transaction.

The transaction is expected to close in H1 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

RBC Capital Markets acted as exclusive financial advisor to General Atlantic. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal counsel to General Atlantic. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as legal advisor and Deutsche Bank AG acted as financial advisor to CPP Investments. Evercore and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisors to Permira. Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal advisor to Permira.

About Boats Group

Boats Group operates the world's leading online marketplaces for buying and selling boats, including Boat Trader, YachtWorld, and boats.com. With a global audience of millions of boat buyers, we provide data-driven marketing solutions, AI-driven tools, financing services, and industry insights to help OEMs, dealers, and brokers maximize their sales potential.

About General Atlantic 

General Atlantic is a leading global investor with more than four and a half decades of experience providing capital and strategic support for over 830 companies throughout its history. Established in 1980, General Atlantic continues to be a dedicated partner to visionary founders and investors seeking to build dynamic businesses and create long term value. Guided by the conviction that entrepreneurs can be incredible agents of transformational change, the firm combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon, and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with and scale innovative businesses around the world. The firm leverages its patient capital, operational expertise, and global platform to support a diversified investment platform spanning Growth Equity, Credit, Climate, and Sustainable Infrastructure strategies. General Atlantic manages approximately $118 billion in assets under management, inclusive of all strategies, as of September 30, 2025, with more than 900 professionals in 20 countries across five regions. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit:
www.generalatlantic.com.

About CPP Investments

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Canada Pension Plan Fund in the best interest of the more than 22 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, we make investments around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure, fixed income and alternative strategies including in partnership with funds. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. At September 30, 2025, the Fund totalled C$777.5 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram or on X @CPPInvestments.

About Permira

Permira is a global investment firm that backs successful businesses with growth ambitions. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds across two core asset classes, private equity and credit, with total committed capital of more than €85bn.

The Permira private equity funds make both long-term Buyout and Growth Equity investments in four key sectors: Technology, Consumer, Healthcare and Services. The Permira funds have a long track record of investing in internet, software and SMB-enablement solutions and have previously supported and helped scale some of the largest and fastest-growing technology, online marketplace and classifieds businesses globally, including Adevinta, Allegro, Squarespace, Klarna, LegalZoom, Property Finder and others.

Permira employs over 500 people in 17 offices across Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. For more information, visit www.permira.com.

Media Contacts

For Boats Group: 
Courtney Chalmers
VP of Marketing
[email protected]
1-877-354-4069

For General Atlantic: 
Jess Gill
[email protected]

For CPP Investments:
Shani Halstead
[email protected]

For Permira: 
FGS Global (US) – Julie Rudnick – [email protected]
OR
Permira – James Williams – [email protected]

SOURCE Boats Group, LLC