What is Oceanco owner Gabe Newell’s endgame with Alewijnse?
Game pioneer Gabe Newell surprised the maritime market this year with his acquisition of superyacht builder Oceanco. The fact that he shortly thereafter also took over system integrator Alewijnse raised eyebrows across the international market. What exactly does this American entrepreneurwant with the Nijmegen-based technology company?
“Above all, to drive innovation and preserve expertise for the superyacht industry,” says Oceanco COO Erwin Kooistra.
After the acquisition, Alewijnse received many questions from the market, says Sjaak van der Laan, yachting manager at the Nijmegen system integrator. Together with Kooistra, he elaborates on the acquisition from the annual Metstrade yacht show in Amsterdam. “Customers—and even direct competitors of Oceanco—asked us: will you now work exclusively for Oceanco? No, we won’t. That is absolutely not the philosophy, nor is it the reason the shareholder made this decision. It is largely business as usual.”
Alewijnse will remain active across all maritime segments and will continue supplying existing clients. Focusing solely on the superyacht builder would not benefit the company, Van der Laan emphasizes. “It’s precisely the cross-pollination between these different segments that creates solutions. That’s incredibly valuable.”
That said, change is inevitable. “We’ll focus on strengthening each other. A lot is happening now in the fields of integration and innovation. The new owner has a very interesting vision on this and is eager to collaborate with us. He respects the identity of each company and wants to support accelerated innovation together.”
Newell
The new owner is entrepreneur and billionaire Gabe Newell. Newell is the founder of game company Valve and already owned several vessels. Recently, the new superyacht Leviathan was added to the list. The 111-meter vessel was built by Oceanco. During the build, Newell engaged in discussions with Oceanco CEO Marcel Onkenhout and the previous owners of the Oceanco Group, the Omani Barwani family. This ultimately led to his acquisition of the Oceanco Group on 1 August of this year.
Since then, Newell has been asking countless questions, says COO Erwin Kooistra. “He truly wants to know everything. And he doesn’t want to be presented with only a solution—he wants to understand the problem. Every problem we have only makes him more enthusiastic.”
Retaining Alewijnse
Newell solved a potential problem with the acquisition of Alewijnse. System integration is an essential part of yacht building, and the Nijmegen company has contributed to the majority of yachts built in Alblasserdam. “There was a risk that if Alewijnse were acquired by, for instance, private equity—who might see more opportunities in other sectors—it could disappear from yacht building,” Kooistra explains. “That expertise and know-how must be preserved. This acquisition achieves exactly that.”
By stepping in, the Oceanco Group has created a level of security for itself, but also for fellow yacht builders and other shipyards. As Van der Laan stressed, Alewijnse will not become an exclusive in-house builder for Oceanco. And that aligns with owner Newell’s reputation for transparency.
Transparancy
‘Transparantie is wel het buzzwoord’, vertelt Kooistra. Newell pleit voor het delen van data, voor transparantie en voor open source. Zo mogen onderzoekers zijn schepen gebruiken voor onderzoek, maar alleen op de voorwaarde dat ze de gewonnen informatie delen met de wereld. Hij stelt zelf ook zijn nieuwe superjacht open voor iedereen.
Transparency does not mean that Oceanco will now disclose the owners or price tags of every yacht, Kooistra clarifies. “But Gabe’s vision is that innovation should not be exclusive. Innovations that result from this collaboration will become available to the market.” According to the Oceanco Group, yacht builders primarily compete for clients; behind the scenes, cooperation is entirely possible.
“The yacht industry is already a source of innovation for the entire maritime sector,” Van der Laan adds. He points to the naval vessels that need to be built. “Much of the technology used in these ships originates from yacht building. The same applies to vessels in dredging, offshore, and transport segments.”
Erwin Kooistra (left) and Sjaak van der Laan both note that it is ‘business as usual’ for now. Photo Oceanco / Alewijnse
Innovation drive
In an interview shortly after the acquisition, Alewijnse CEO Gert Bravenboer referred to Newell’s “seven-league boots.” “He certainly moves fast,” Kooistra confirms. “He energizes and brings many ideas. We don’t have to follow all of them—otherwise we would outpace ourselves.”
Above all, Newell challenges both Oceanco and Alewijnse. Soon, 35 engineers from Inkfish—Newell’s marine research company—will visit Oceanco to exchange knowledge. This presents opportunities for both Alewijnse and Oceanco, particularly in AI, big data, and digital twins. Van der Laan: “That is precisely his vision: bring people together. One party may hold the solution to a problem the other doesn’t even know exists. By making these connections, we can strengthen each other and stay ahead of future challenges in the maritime industry.”
This article was written by Schuttevaer editor-in-chief Jelmer Bastiaans. Read the original article on the Schuttevaer website: https://www.schuttevaer.nl/nieuws/actueel/2025/12/09/wat-wil-oceanco-ei…
The new owner first entered the picture as the buyer of the superyacht shown above: Leviathan. Photo: Oceanco.
