After a tempestuous 2016, which saw Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta going to court to apply for restructuring of its 50 million euro (RM234.1 million) debt, having to lay-off workers and shut down its plant, along with downscaling its production, fresh capital has emerged in the form of the Black Ocean Group, the investment arm of Russian international holding firm Ocean Group.
This news comes on the back of claims from MV Agusta’s suppliers, who brought the Varese-based company to court over unpaid bills. Majority-owned by Mercedes-AMG, with a 25% stake, the relationship between MV Agusta chief executive officer Giovanni Gastiglioni and Mercedes have been acrimonious, according to reports.
It is not known if the injection of fresh capital by Black Ocean will mean a dilution of the shares in MV Agusta, or if Mercedes-AMG will be leaving the partnership with a sell-back of its shares. Black Ocean is headed by Oliver Ripley and Timur Saradov, and its holding company was involved in the production of the James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace”.
MV Agusta introduced several new models this year, including the award-winning MV Agusta F4Z, a collaboration with design house Zagato, along with the Brutale 800 RR and Euro 4 updates to its model line. MV Agusta also released the limited edition F3 675 RC, and will continue its racing efforts in superbike racing.
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Another company to become the prey of the Castiglioni family. Same modus operandi, take people’s money, but whilst giving them little management decisions, run the company to the ground and bait another innocent company to become its next prey. Proton, Harley davidson, AMG had become their prey, and now Black Ocean.