The Nantes Commercial Court has approved the sale of Black Pepper Yachts’ assets to CDML, an entity owned by entrepreneur Didier Charpentier, following the French carbon sailing yacht builder’s judicial liquidation.
The transaction will retain 11 of the shipyard’s 12 employees, preserving most of its in-house carbon composite construction capability. The sale price has not been disclosed.
Black Pepper entered receivership around a month before the court approved the sale in early October 2026. The company specialises in customised performance sailing yachts and has also built several IMOCA racing yachts designed by Sam Manuard.
Charpentier, 69, founded and formerly led Gard-based software company Itesoft. He is already a Black Pepper client and has ordered one of two C.69 catamarans currently under construction at the Nantes yard.
Order book
The two 69ft multihulls contributed to the shipyard’s financial problems after construction costs exceeded projections and placed pressure on cash flow. Completing the yachts is therefore expected to be an immediate operational priority for the new owner.
Operational continuity now depends on CDML completing work already in progress while rebuilding the order book and financing future projects. The level of funding committed to the acquisition and the shipyard’s current workload have not been disclosed.
According to API News, Charpentier is targeting annual growth of 40% through 2030. That objective would require the business to move beyond delivery of his own C.69 and establish a sustainable programme of new yacht construction.
Custom yacht construction
The retention of nearly the entire workforce gives CDML access to skills in carbon composite fabrication, custom yacht construction and technically demanding sailing projects. It also reduces the immediate loss of specialist employment following liquidation.
The court-approved transfer provides a route for production to continue, but the new management still faces the task of controlling costs, completing the C.69 catamarans and securing commercially viable future orders.
Black Pepper Yachts builds premium custom yachts, from 8 to 25 metres, both monohulls and catamarans. The shipyard was founded in 2007 and acquired by Thomas Brette in 2025.
