LONDON, June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Creating the European market leader in boat buying and selling

Boats.com, the leading online marketplace for boat buying and selling, owned by Dominion Marine Media, has acquired the innovative European portal Allboats.com from BoHil Media, a division of The Telegraaf newspaper group based in Amsterdam.  The Allboats website and its content will merge with the existing Boats.com business and brand to become the largest of its kind, with over 700,000 boats for sale in 171 countries - representing a total value of over €135 billion.

The acquisition forms an integral part of the company's plans to grow consumer traffic and dramatically increase content on Boats.com, whilst creating an online community for boat owners. The new site will become the European market leader for classified marine advertising.

In May, the company announced the appointment of Julian Gowing as European General Manager of Boats.com and this acquisition marks the first step in Dominion Marine Media's planned expansion strategy for Europe.

Julian Gowing comments: "The vision is for the new Boats.com site to become the definitive information resource for boat owners and the boating industry.  We are going to provide a compelling resource and community for anyone buying, selling, maintaining or just enjoying boating. We will continue to develop and launch new products and offerings which will enable our visitors to enjoy a new level of targeted and interactive products and services."

"We are delighted to have completed the successful sale of the AllBoats.com business to Dominion Marine Media." said Caspar Peters, Managing Director of BoHil bv. "The AllBoats.com concept of content indexation and aggregation represents an important trend in online listings, and we are proud to have created such a powerful platform and grown the content and traffic so effectively in less than two years. Dominion Marine Media are ideally placed to take it forward to the next level and we wish them well."

The acquisition of Allboats.com also includes traffic, inventory and technology. Boats.com, which has its European headquarters in Fareham, UK will also be unveiling a new look logo and website. Customers will be able to stay abreast of all the exciting developments by registering on the new website at http://www.boats.com 

Notes for Editors

About Boats.com- In partnership with the boating industry, Boats.com is building and maintaining the marine Internet marketplace. Boats.com enables boat users, manufacturers and resellers - including yacht brokers, boat dealers, marinas, boatyards, and other marine service businesses - to participate in a thriving online community and state-of-the-art e-commerce channel. By enhancing the consumer's boating experience and helping to increase the industry's effectiveness, Boats.com has opened up new commercial opportunities for the industry and is helping to grow the sport of boating. The Boats.com management team is made up of boating and Web/Internet business veterans, whose depth and breadth of experience has enabled it to build strong, strategic partnerships. Boats.com is a division of Dominion Marine Media, based in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

Dominion Marine Media is the recreational marine industry division of Dominion Enterprises - a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, marine, enthusiast and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, and employment industries.  Dominion Enterprises' businesses provide a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, Web site design and hosting, and data management services.  Dominion Enterprises has more than 40 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 17.6 million unique visitors, and more than 280 magazines with a weekly circulation of 2.4 million.  Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, the company has 4,900 employees in more than 186 offices.

SOURCE Boats.com