Not plain sailing
As the fire sale of superyacht builder Perini Navi rumbles on, are we any closer to seeing this iconic Italian sailing brand back in action?
Written by David Tydeman
04 November 2021
Advertisement
As autumn rolls inevitably toward winter in the northern hemisphere, the fate of the iconic Perini Navi superyacht brand in Italy appears no closer to resolution than it did when summer rolled in earlier in the year.
The slow process over the last six months has seen the Italian court system try to run a controlled auction process for the assets and on-going business of Perini but this has twice failed, with the three main interested parties declining to submit bids within the courts system.
The first auction asked for bids above €62.5 million, while the second auction asked for bids above €53.5 million and included a requirement for a type of ‘bid-bond’ at round €10 million to be lodged.
The assets noted in the court documents are mainly the two Perini shipyard sites at La Spezia and Viareggio in Italy which are valued at around €45 million, but of course any restart of Perini will need working capital and investment – which the bidders have estimated at a minimum of €20 million.
Advertisement
Moreover, the clients for the part-built Evolution 42 hulls #1 and #2, and the client for the Perini 60 metre #4, all have to do a deal with the incoming new owners to complete their yachts.
This compares with the overall creditors position estimated at €130 million before the first auction, although this does now seem to be down to around €90 million after the successful sale of the Perini shipyard in Turkey and some calling of build guarantees.
One way or another, the undisclosed value of the new bid at the end of October from ReStart (the joint venture between Sanlorenzo and Ferretti Group) and the “€47 million bid” from The Italian Sea Group (TISG) – details of which have not been released but which apparently include a business plan for the restart – are going to be well short of the creditors position which, rumour has it, has been part of the lobbying and driver behind the court process thus far.
Working back from what the market will pay is of course what will determine the final outcome, and it does look possible now that one of the three bidders will eventually take over the three parts of the assets – the physical sites, buildings and equipment etc; the brand; and the current contracts – but that each would then take the next steps differently.
One thing is clear to me – the brand will not relaunch as an independent company totally in control of its own destiny. It will be party to consolidation within a larger parent company in one way or another, and Perini yachts in the future will be influenced by how they fit alongside a broader portfolio of brands.
Although this is in the superyacht segment of the market, consolidation and commercial drivers for efficiencies of supply-chain, shared R&D, and routes to market have been taking place across the volume, production builders power and sail, and niche players for large sailing yachts of course need to adapt too.
At least it now looks hopeful that despite what is likely to be two years between closing the doors in early 2020 and restarting in 2022, the Perini brand will not just join others than have been lost to history.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
