boats.com, founded in 1999, is the largest search engine in the marine industry worldwide. Its powerful URL makes boats.com is positioned as the first source for everything related to boating: news, tutorials, articles, videos and boat ads. boats.com offers shipyards and its dealer network the most effective tools to promote and sell new and used boats worldwide.

boats.com born as private start-up in San Francisco, California, to promote the Internet boom in the marine industry. In January of 2000, boats.com acquired YachtWorld, signing the first agreement in the marine industry for Internet content. A few months later, boats.com expanded its offering in the European market. Ian Atkins opened the first office in Fareham, England, to launch the portal in European markets. Websites dedicated to UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands were created.

In 2010, boats.com, YachtWorld and Boat Trader joined forces as the three leading marine websites to form Boats Group (then operated as Dominion Marine Media). In July 2016, Boats Group was acquired by Apax Partners and then by Permira Funds in February 2021.

Boats Group's brands - Boat Trader, YachtWorld, boats.com, iNautia, Cosas De Barcos, Botentekoop, Annonces du Bateau, Boats and Outboards, and Boatshop24 - are the world’s leading online boating marketplaces, connecting the largest global audience of boat buyers with top sellers and manufacturers. For nearly three decades, Boats Group has helped its industry partners sell more boats faster and provided unmatched support with a comprehensive suite of online business solutions, including proprietary web-based contract management tools, and premier digital marketing strategies and services. Owned by the Permira Funds, Boats Group is based in Miami, Florida, United States with co-headquarters in Fareham, England, and additional offices in Padova, Italy and Barcelona, Spain.

Meet the boats.com Team.

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