
After growing concern over its financial stability and rumors of it selling off and/or closing some of its yacht yards, the Ferretti Group received approval this week to restructure its debt through both a cash infusion and a debt-for-equity swap.
The Group, which owns megayacht builders CRN and Custom Line, along with production-boat builders Pershing, Riva, Ferretti Yachts, Apreamare, and Bertram, will receive funds from Norberto Ferretti (pictured below), its founder and chief executive, and assistance from multiple banks.

Specifically, according to reports by Bloomberg News and the Financial Times, cash is coming from Mediobanca, an Italian investment bank, and Norberto Ferretti. Together, they will hold a 45-percent ownership stake, slightly less than the percentage rumored to be in the works a few weeks ago. The reports did not indicate how much cash Norberto Ferretti was offering, though they did say Mediobanca is investing €15 million, or about $19.7 million. Thirty-two percent of the Ferretti Group will be owned by an assortment of lenders led by Royal Bank of Scotland, in exchange for writing off 28 percent of the debt owed. Twenty percent of the company will be in the hands of several other lenders, in exchange for writing down all of their debts. The Ferretti Group’s management will receive ownership of the last three percent of the company.
All told, according to the news reports, the firm’s debt will be reduced to €640 million, or about $841.9 million; it had been €1 billion, or $1.3 billion.
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