US Boat Dealers Bring Antitrust Lawsuit Against Boats Group

By Gabrielle Lazaridis

Boats Group, the owner of online listing platforms Yacht World, Boat Trader and boats.com, is being sued in a US federal court for allegedly stifling competition in the marketplace.

The lawsuit, filed by plaintiff Brill Maritime Inc in Miami, Florida, argues that Boats Group is violating antitrust law through subscription agreements that prevent or discourage other brokers and dealers from listing vessels on rival platforms.

According to the plaintiff, which operates under the name Export Yacht Sales, Boats Group claims to control approximately 75 per cent of the global market for such services, meaning sellers who wish to remain competitive have no choice but to utilise Boat Group's platform and services.

"Boats Group has willfully acquired, maintained and expanded monopoly power in this market by engaging in exclusionary and anticompetitive conduct, including the serial acquisitions of its main competitors, unilateral price increases, restrictive contractual terms and practices that hinder entry and expansion by rival platforms," asserted court filings obtained by BOATPro. "As a result, sellers face supracompetitive outreach costs, competitors are foreclosed from competing on the merits and consumers encounter reduced choice and higher prices in the recreational boating marketplace."

The lawsuit seeks to restore competition in the market and collect damages for losses allegedly suffered by the plaintiff and a proposed class of thousands of brokers and dealers.

Boats Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.