ProNav Managing Director John M Hestnes and Navico CEO Jens-Thomas Pietralla seal the agreement with a handshake
The global leader in recreational marine electronics, Navico, will join forces with Norwegian marine electronics distributor ProNav to centralize Norwegian distribution of its house of brands - B&G, Eagle, Lowrance, Northstar and Simrad - and to bring customer care closer to the customer.
The long-term agreement will strengthen the position of the brands in Norway by uniting the global electronics manufacturer with the leader in distribution and customer care, a key success factor in the important Norwegian market. With local warehouses and extensive customer-care reach, ProNav is well placed to support demanding recreational and commercial customers throughout Norway.
Effective 1 February 2009, ProNav will have distribution rights for B&G, Eagle, Lowrance, Northstar and Simrad brands, positioning ProNav as the largest independent distributor of marine electronics in Norway.
Navico and ProNav already have a close and successful long-standing relationship, with ProNav distributing Navman and Northstar since 2004. Established in 1994 on the south-west Coast of Norway, ProNav is highly regarded within both the recreational and professional segment. ProNav's existing sales channel and customer care setup is well aligned with the discrete market segments the Navico brands serve such as performance yachting, power cruising, small leisure boats as well as commercial vessels for fishing and trade.
"We look forward to strengthening our relationship with ProNav. They have already demonstrated their ability to provide boaters with a world-class customer experience, providing rapid support from local warehouses and actively supporting boaters on the water," says Navico CEO Jens-Thomas Pietralla.
"After several years of strong growth within the commercial vessels sector, we are now able to grow in other major market segments. By partnering with Navico, and through cooperation with our loyal dealer base, we are delighted to be able to bring the full Navico house of brands to the Norwegian market. With an exciting new line-up of products, such as the new Lowrance HDS and Navico broadband radar, we see tremendous potential as we approach the 2009 season," says John Hestnes, Managing Director of ProNav.
ProNav will take over Norwegian distribution from Navico owned-subsidiary, Navico Norway, led by marine industry veteran Øystein Bredal-Thorsen. Under Bredal-Thorsen's leadership, the Navico team integrated the Norwegian distribution setup which enabled the transfer of the combined distribution to ProNav.
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Notes to Editors
ProNav AS, was established in 1994 and has rapidly grown to be one of Norway's leading national/distributors of marine electronics. Based in Egersund, on the south-west coast of Norway, close to the North Sea fishing grounds and Stavanger, the "oil capital" of Norway ProNav AS has developed a successful business serving both recreational and professional customers.
www.pronav.no
About Navico
Navico is the parent company to five leading marine electronics brands: B&G, Eagle, Lowrance, Northstar and Simrad. Navico has approximately 2,500 employees globally. The company has development and manufacturing facilities in the USA, Mexico, the UK, Norway and New Zealand.
www.navico.com
Press enquiries:
Renée Mead
Director – Corporate Communications
Navico Holding AS
Phone: +47 4641 1705
Email: renee.mead@navico.com
John Hestnes
Managing Director
ProNav AS
Phone: +47 5146 4300