Balmaris has acquired a 51% stake in Porto Turistico di Jesolo near Venice, with Stefano Marzotto’s holding company Marvit retaining 49% and partnering in the marina’s further development.
The transaction follows more than €10 million of investment in the marina in recent years under Marzotto’s ownership.
The new partners plan to upgrade the boatyard and infrastructure, add hospitality services and introduce boat dealerships as they develop the complex.
Jesolo becomes the second marina in Balmaris’s portfolio, following Moniga Porto Nautica on Lake Garda. Balmaris is backed by Baltisse, the investment holding company of the Balcaen family.
Marina facilities
Located on the River Sile, Porto Turistico di Jesolo provides direct access to the Adriatic and Venice lagoon.
Facilities include more than 600 berths, travel lifts with capacity up to 100 tonnes and over 7,000 square metres of covered dry storage, alongside a fuel station, swimming pool and restaurant.
Federica Biondi will remain chief executive, leading the existing team. Marzotto will chair the board, representing Marvit alongside Carlo Molon.
Balmaris’s board representatives will be Derek van Brussel, Tommaso Gino and Andreas Schryvers.
“We are confident that with Balmaris what we have built in Jesolo will be preserved, and we will keep developing the marina together,” said Marzotto.
Acquisition opportunities
Derek van Brussel, founder and managing director of Balmaris, said the ownership structure had been developed with Marzotto and his team.
“Stefano Marzotto owns businesses built over generations and invested significantly in this marina, and we worked with him and his team on a structure that fits their needs,” he said.
“That flexibility, combined with the long-term horizon of a company backed by a family holding, is what we offer families like his.”
Van Brussel added that Balmaris was continuing to seek acquisition opportunities in Italy and elsewhere in Europe following the additions of Moniga and Jesolo.
