PADI for sale for 1 billion US-Dollar…

Background

Providence Equity Partners (PEP) bought a major stake of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) in 2015. As a first change, they reduced considerably the personnel in the PADI Headquarters. Since then, PADI concentrates big economical efforts to expand the company to Middle East Asia.

Nowadays

In the last quarter of 2016 PEP hired Deutsche Bank AG to find buyers for PADI. Deutsche Bank was successful. Asian buyout firms may be among interested bidders for the company. The buyout price is at 1 billion dollar. The sale is expected to be closed by the first trimester of the year 2017 .

PADI, founded in 1966 by John Cronning, is the largest diving organisation in the world. It has issued 25 million of diving certifications during its 50 years of existence and employs around 400 employees globally.

With other diving organisations, such as Scuba Schools International (SSI) rising as competitors, it will be interesting to see PADI’s new owner and what the company’s future plans look like.

The year 2017 promises to be a year full of exciting changes. Follow us for the recent news of the scuba diving industry and stay updated.