Ferretti in financial difficulty

Are there any other brands on your short list? Or is the Ferretti a must have?

Ferretti 830
Azimut 82
Sunseeker 86
Princess 85

I had Ferretti on the top of my list before narrowing it down due to their styling, layout, and ease of modification. After negotiations, they had the best offer too by quite a margin.

Sorry, didn't realize this was somewhat answered earlier.

LCDS at 10.875% isn't very promising. I guess it'll be tough for them to restructure in these climates.

Word is that there is a single privat Italian investor who covered part of the debt. Mr. Ferretti seems to have found the funding to regain control the company. These funds where needed to cover interest and overdue payments. Candover has apperantly written off most of its losses. RBS is likely to have done the same. According to my info, Mediobanco has the majority of the Ferretti debt in their portfolio. They also appear to keep their stake in Ferretti.

The only big losers in this transaction should be Candover, RBS and a number of suppliers.

I'm not aware of any effects on Ferretti's day to day operations, but it will likely have some. I'm pretty convinced that Ferretti will stay in business.

I'd be surprised if it were that painless for Mr. Ferretti -- re-neg on a $B debt and gain more control over the company? I doubt also that the debt holders just walked away, especially with another investor involved. Without a bankruptcy some kind of negotiation took place to accommodate the debt holders. Perhaps preferred or common stock in exchange for the debt. That would dilute Mr. Ferretti's ownership.

Anyhow, good to see that Ferretti will survive and perhaps even be improved as a result.

It will not have bee a painless operation for Norberto. I guess that the majority of debt will is moved to other financials. With written off I mean that the there will be a loss because of the drop in value. It's, of course to clear a 1B€ debt by simply writing the full amount off.

Will see what the future has in store for Ferretti. Although I'm not a fan of their products, I truely wish them the best.
Let's hope that the customer's confidence in Ferretti stays intact.

Hi,

I think what you guys are missing here is the fact that it seems RBS has walked away from their Toxic Debt. The UK Taxpayer is left to pick up the pieces and to pay the Chief Executives Lifetime Pension- a reward for reckless practice and failure.

If the Ferretti figure sold it off for a big lump of cash a couple f years ago and didn't spend all that money he should have enough to take control again at what can only be a fire sale price.

Does anyone know how many of their boats in build no longer have Owners who are paying for them?

They are busy liquidating the yard in Ft. Lauderdale and probabaly Miami. They are going to keep a few guys as mobile service reps. The lease is up on the New River yard, so I guess they are trying to streamline operations after buying ARBMG. I hope the old owner got cash and not promissory notes or stock!

I am sure RBS wrote down their debt and valued whatever they got in return (i.e. equity or whatever) very low, and with a discount for illiquidity. It would still mean that Noberto suffered with, at the very least, some massive dilution to his ownership.

Perhaps that will be another bull market in the near future and Ferretti's value will sky rocket and RBS will be made whole again!

On Bloomberg.com today

By Elisa Martinuzzi and Sara Gay Forden

April 8 (Bloomberg) -- Ferretti SpA’s lenders agreed to take control of the maker of Riva and Bertram yachts by swapping part of its 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion) of debt for equity, three people familiar with the talks said.

A group of about 100 creditors, led by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, will own about 53 percent of the Forli, Italy-based company after the reorganization, the people familiar with the talks said. They declined to be identified before the agreement is signed.

Managers and Mediobanca SpA, Italy’s biggest independent investment bank, will invest 85 million euros and own the rest, the people said. The yachtmaker’s debt will fall to about 560 million euros, they said. Officials at Ferretti and RBS couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Ferretti, which had been planning to sell shares to the public before the financial crisis eroded demand for luxury yachts, missed payments in January on some of the loans used to fund its buyout by Candover Investments Plc in 2006. The buyout firm will write off its investment.

Debt-for-equity swaps are occurring in other cash-strapped industries such as auto parts and real estate. Banks took control of Chertsey, England-based homebuilder Crest Nicholson after it missed debt payments, the construction company said in February. Lenders swapped 630 million pounds ($926 million) of debt for a 90 percent stake in Crest Nicholson.

London-based Candover completed its purchase of Ferretti in January 2007, valuing the company at 1.5 billion euros.

Founded by Alessandro and Norberto Ferretti in 1968, Ferretti generates about 75 percent of its business outside Italy, including 15 percent in the U.S. Sales dried up as the seizure in credit markets worsened, prompting the yachtmaker to temporarily lay off staff.

So basically they'll be run by bankers. Should be interesting (just think of the profit margin that can be realized by not using marinized parts ).

Thats funny, but worryingly could be true.

Feretti already uses non marine parts in everything in the lazarette. All of the steering parts bolts and hydraulic lines are already steel and look horrible in 6 months.

Hey what do you expect for only a few million $.

I been working on Azimuths and Ferrettis for a lot of years.

BCS steering is garbage. The steering helms are weak and cant even stand the force of pulling the wheel like Hynautic or Seastar steering helms. I have changed BCS steering helms and came back and changed then out again 2 months later. The BCS steering pump is a mounted on top of a plastic box. If the pump runs long periods of time, the motor overheats and drops into the plastic box.

The Ramacotti Fresh Water pumps need to be rebuilt. When the water tank goes empty the pumps run dry and have meltdown. I just change them to HeadHunter Mark5 and when the water tank runs dry the pumps shut off, no brainer there.

The Azimuth 100 has a inflatable gasket at the back door. When the air compressor doesn't work everything in that compartment gets wet and rusty. The steering system, all the tender hose fittings, all the equipment in that compartment gets ruined.

Ill try.

Ferretti reorganisation could see 300 layoffs

By IBI Magazine

Italian boatbuilding giant the Ferretti Group is to undergo a restructuring that could see up to 300 employees lose their jobs, according to a report from the company's union representatives.

Indirect employees could also be reduced from 1,800 to 400 according to plans presented by CEO Salvatore Basile at a meeting with Italian employers' federation Confindustria.

Ferretti management and union representatives met with Confindustria on November 19. The union representatives released details of the meeting to local press.

According to the unions' reports, details of yacht brand Apreamare's possible departure from the Ferretti Group could be finalised in coming days. Further restructuring measures could include the unification of Riva, Ferretti Yachts and Pershing under one company.

The meeting concerned the reorganisation of Ferretti Group brands Riva, Ferretti, Pershing and CRN.

In January this year Ferretti defaulted on its debt repayment after refinancing assistance was sought. In July the group finalised its debt restructuring and named Salvatore Basile as its CEO.

The Ferretti Group's nine yacht brands include Ferretti Yachts, Pershing, Itama, Bertram Yacht, Riva, Apreamare, Mochi Craft, Custom Line and CRN. The group was founded in 1968 by Ferretti Group chairman Norberto Ferretti.

(24 November 2009)

An entertaining interview with Norberto Feretti can be found a few pages into:
http://www.ebook.nautica.eu/nautica-international-2009-4.htm

finanace & Ferritti

Thanks ArcanisX.
So much for me being informed.