RS Aqua Joins General Oceans; a Seller’s Perspective
By Martin Stemp, Managing Director, RS Aqua
It must have been 5 or 6 years since I first learnt about Atle’s ambition to build a new group of ocean tech businesses that succeed individually but are stronger together. In summer 2024, I began talking to Atle and his team about RS Aqua, and by November we had sold the business and officially joined the General Oceans group.
Looking back to this time last year, I had been building RS Aqua for 12 years and I was keen to take some of my personal pressure away; any of you founders and owner-operators will know that it can be lonely and stressful at the top of a deep-tech business. Additional to my personal motivation, I also wanted to reframe RS Aqua’s future story for the benefit of the wider team, our customers and the business. General Oceans offered, and has delivered, exactly what I was looking for.
After the initial period of negotiating and agreeing on the overarching strategy, we then entered the acquisition process. From the outset I took the perspective that I was planning for a productive future career within the General Ocean group, so all the contractual terms we agreed upon had to work for everyone in the short and longer term. I had a good team of advisors supporting me and my other shareholders; it’s certainly important to have people you trust in your corner.
I can report that both the RS Aqua team and the General Oceans team took a pragmatic approach to the acquisition process, and I’m happy to write that all things considered, we found a common ground on all key negotiations. This commonsense approach has certainly helped with a very positive first 6 months integrating into General Oceans.
After joining a group of companies, the first few months will always require some formalities around integration, including financial and management reporting. That was a relatively painless process, again focused on a light-touch but commonsense approach to business. During this early stage we also took the time at RS Aqua to engage with our key partners and other stakeholders were informed and onboard with the change. After the initial formalities, we’re now finding ways to integrate on a strategic basis with other brands within the group, starting with the companies that have the clearest synergy with RS Aqua. And by synergy, I don’t mean cost-cutting; there has been none of that. I mean commercial and technological synergies, building common plans and strong working relationships with peers across sales, marketing, operations, R&D and leadership, which is already bring new benefits to RS Aqua.
For me personally, I was (and am) so embedded in the ocean enterprise, that I wouldn’t consider any other career path. Today I continue to be the leader of RS Aqua, the full RS Aqua team has remained onboard, and the team are newly energised by our newfound family. I feel that our future is brighter than ever, and I can’t wait to see where General Oceans will go.