Dutch-Belgian-Trading GmbH (DBT) has acquired Hamburg based SevenCs GmbH and ChartWorld GmbH from Admiralty Holdings Limited (AHL), a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO).
Mr. Jochen Rudolph, Managing Director of DBT, said: “DBT has exciting and ambitious plans to develop a completely new concept for integrated ECDIS and digital chart data services aimed at the SOLAS retrofit market. The acquisition of ChartWorld and SevenCs is a big step towards the rapid realisation of that concept.”
Commenting on the sale, Ian Moncrieff CBE, Chief Executive of the UKHO said: ”SevenCs contributed significantly to the initial transition to digital charts at the UKHO and I am delighted to see both companies sold to a progressive company that is committed to maintaining both companies in Hamburg and which has ambitious growth plans that involve both SevenCs and ChartWorld together.”
At the same time as announcing the acquisition of ChartWorld and SevenCs, Mr. Rudolph also announced that DBT are currently recruiting new staff – especially in sales - and will shortly be opening new offices in Singapore and Cyprus to provide sales, service and support for the Asian and Mediterranean markets.
The new ECDIS concept, as well as the newly opened offices, will operate under the ChartWorld brand. SevenC s will continue as a separate software brand, focused on the ongoing development of ECDIS kernel software, ENC Chart Production Tools and specialist ECS applications.