Second bailout for Ferretti
Royal Bank of Scotland and American hedge fund Strategic Value Partners (SVP) are to offer a huge cash injection into the Italian yacht builder Ferretti. The rescue plan suggested is the second for the Italian company in two years.
The bailout deal aims to invest between €150m and €180m (US$206m-US$252m), and to reduce the company's debt again, according to a report last week in Britain's Sunday Times newspaper.
The move follows a further cut in the Italian manufacturer's debt made by both financial institutions in 2009. They were part of a consortium of lenders to Ferretti that reduced the company's liabilities to approximately €600m (US$842m) from more than €1bn (US$1.4bn) in exchange for a 53 per cent stake.
The report also suggests other lenders have been given the opportunity to take part in the restructuring financing — if that offer is rejected RBS and SVP could end up owning a bigger slice of Ferretti.
The Italian yacht builders financial trouble dates back to the takeover by British private equity firm Candover. In 2007 the company financed the acquisition worth €1.1bn (US$1.5bn) almost entirely by a loan package. Then came the 2008/09 slump in sales.
"To this end, the Ferretti Group has already started talking to its main lenders, who have expressed their willingness to assess the possibility of such a restructuring process. With regard to the offer by Shandong Heavy Industry Group (SHIG), the Board of Directors of the Ferretti Group, while confirming the industrial validity of a possible deal with the Chinese company, deems that to date it still contains a number of elements of uncertainty, which therefore require further evaluation.The Ferretti Group therefore confirms its intention to continue to pursue discussions with counterparties with the aim to evaluate all opportunities. In terms of its business, despite the phase of contraction that the entire nautical sector is currently witnessing, the Ferretti Group continues to operate with the usual dynamism, taking part with its prestigious brands to all the main international nautical trade shows.
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