After much to-ing and fro-ing, and numerous rumours, it seems to be confirmed that the proposed sale of Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati is now off. This was reported on Italian news site moto.it, which said Thomas Sedran, Volkwagen’s strategic director, had gone on record at the end of August saying that the sale of assets “was not a priority.”
While no official statement has been issued, sources inside Ducati said the entire saga ended with the closing of the sales dossier in the hands of New York based Evercore Partners. The consulting firm was entrusted with overseeing the sale of the Bologna firm, and identifying suitable buyers.
However, Volkswagen’s advisory board, of which half the seats are occupied by its worker’s unions, along with representatives from the Porsche and Peich families, slammed the brakes on the deal two months ago. The advisory board oversees the sale of any major assets within the the Volkswagen group.
The sale process, in response to possible financial constraints faced by Volkwagen resulting from Dieselgate, began early last year and numerous possible purchasers were identified, among which were motorcycle makers such as Harley-Davidson and India’s Eicher Motors, as well as Italy’s Benetton family. Volkswagen, via car maker Audi, purchased Ducati in 2012 for 962 million euro (RM4.7 billion) and has a current valuation of over 1.5 billion euros (RM7.4 billion), contributing 7% to Audi’s turnover last year.
P1 can buy Ducati to diversify revenue flows.
They can, but since Duc is still profitable, the price wun be cheap. Start at least 1B Euros.
Really stupid to sell Ducati after all the magic the Germans did to make the Italian machines reliable and desirable again.
Germans r desperate for money now…
They really should just keep Ducati and do like BMW and really invest in it to diversify.
In a few weeks – at the latest – that China company will make the announcement.
Ducati is doing well in WSB & Moto GP this year. If they continue to be successful next year, the price will increase further besides being profitable too.
It is the only Italian motor company that is challenging the mighty Moto GP of the Japanese namely Honda, Yamaha Suzuki not to mention Kawasaki & BMW in WSB.
Some say they are the Ferrari of motorcycles. Only problem is they are not cheap to buy or maintain.
If U have a chance to watch the video where they interview the workers in Ducati factory, U will realize that they are passionate & they love the job/company bcos they get to go holiday on the company expenses.