Your refit team now covers both sides of the Atlantic
The team that crosses with your boat
International Marine Management acquired Atlantic Refit Center in La Rochelle for an undisclosed sum and took over on 1 June 2026, as reported by SuperyachtNews, BOAT International and SuperYacht Times. IMM already runs bases in Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Guadeloupe and Grenada, carries about 130 in-house staff and bills itself as the Caribbean's largest refit house. ARC has worked France's Atlantic coast for two decades. CEO Norina Edelman put it plainly: 'Returning to Europe is a defining step for IMM.'
For an owner who splits the year between the islands and the Mediterranean, that reach changes the calculus of a refit. With one operator on both coasts, the same project manager and warranty follow the boat across the ocean rather than restarting with a yard that has never seen her. That handover, more than any single dock, is what the deal puts on the table.
A berth for the biggest hulls, off the Med
ARC brings two dry docks of 176 and 107 metres, a 250-ton travel lift, cranes to 150 tons, 300 metres of afloat repair quay and 2,000 square metres of hard standing, with 11 metres of draft into the port. Together they let the yard dock and refit vessels up to 150 metres in length.
The 176-metre dock and the 150-metre ceiling put La Rochelle among the short list of yards that can take the very largest yachts, the size band where slots are hardest to win. For an owner above 90 metres it is one more serious berth to bid for, and it sits on a coast the summer crowds never reach.
A stop you fold into the crossing
La Rochelle sits on France's Atlantic coast, on the natural track between the Caribbean and Mediterranean seasons. Founder and COO Fabrice Maitre began his career in France and worked on the 92-metre Tatoosh refit in La Rochelle in 2007. With this deal, IMM runs yards on both sides of the Atlantic.
For an owner moving between seasons, a refit on the Atlantic seaboard folds into the delivery leg instead of eating Mediterranean time. And because one house now sits in the Caribbean and in France, the boat is handed between two yards that answer to the same standard rather than starting cold. That handover, not the dock size, is what IMM is really selling.
What owners and crew report
IMM frames the deal as a return to Europe, not a simple capacity buy
"Returning to Europe is a defining step for IMM," said CEO Norina Edelman. This is the company's own account of its reasons for the deal, not an independent assessment.
Norina Edelman, IMM CEO
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- Real capacity for the largest hullsA 176-metre dry dock and a 150-metre ceiling put La Rochelle among the short list of yards able to take the very largest yachts, a size band where slots are hardest to win.
- Continuity across the AtlanticThe same project manager and warranty can now follow a boat between IMM's Caribbean bases and France, rather than the boat restarting with a yard that has never seen her.
- A useful position on the seasonal crossingLa Rochelle sits on the natural track between Caribbean and Mediterranean seasons, so a refit there folds into the delivery leg instead of eating Mediterranean time.
What to watch
- Price undisclosedThe purchase price was not published, so there is no way to judge whether IMM overpaid, got a bargain, or how the deal was financed.
- Unproven post-acquisitionThere is no independent confirmation yet of whether ARC's existing staff, contracts and yard practices continue unchanged under new ownership.
- The benefit is narrowThe continuity argument mainly helps an owner who is already an IMM client in the Caribbean; it does little for an owner who refits exclusively in the Mediterranean today.
Practical detail
| Yard capability | Two dry docks of 176m and 107m, a 250-ton travel lift, cranes to 150 tons, 300m of afloat repair quay and 2,000 square metres of hard standing, with 11m of draft into the port; together they take vessels up to 150 metres. |
|---|---|
| Deal terms | Purchase price undisclosed; IMM took control on 1 June 2026. |
| What it changes for an owner | An IMM client in the Caribbean now has the same operator, project manager and warranty available on France's Atlantic coast rather than starting cold with an unfamiliar yard. |
| What is not published | The purchase price, and whether ARC's existing staff and contracts carry over unchanged under IMM ownership. |
Questions this story answers
What happened?
International Marine Management, the largest refit operator in the Caribbean, has bought Atlantic Refit Center in La Rochelle and took control on 1 June. It means the team that knows your yacht in the islands can keep the file when she crosses to Europe, and it puts a berth for hulls up to 150 metres on an Atlantic coast that is not the queue-bound Mediterranean.
What is good about it?
Real capacity for the largest hulls. A 176-metre dry dock and a 150-metre ceiling put La Rochelle among the short list of yards able to take the very largest yachts, a size band where slots are hardest to win.
What should an owner or buyer watch?
Price undisclosed. The purchase price was not published, so there is no way to judge whether IMM overpaid, got a bargain, or how the deal was financed.
What do owners and crew report?
"Returning to Europe is a defining step for IMM," said CEO Norina Edelman. This is the company's own account of its reasons for the deal, not an independent assessment. (Norina Edelman, IMM CEO)
Who reported this?
SuperyachtNews, BOAT International, SuperYacht Times, International Marine Management (IMM), Yachting Pages.
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