Norberto Ferretti Negotiates to Buy Back Company

In early February when it was reported that the Ferretti Group had missed payments on its debt service on over 1 billion
Euros to two European banks, the industry has been waiting to discover the outcome.
Last
week it was announced that Norberto Ferretti and senior management within Ferretti
Spa have offered to inject equity into the company as part of a new debt restructuring
proposal that would give them ownership. Ferretti Group owns a number of brands
including Bertram, Riva, Pershing, Apreamare and others.

Norberto Ferretti sold the company of his name in 1995, built up a large luxury boat-building conglomerate, and now may buy it back.

Report compiled from Reuters and Bloomberg News Services--



If lenders accept the new proposal, according to a statement from Ferretti, existing
private equity owners Candover and Permira would not be part of the new shareholding
structure.



According to Reuters, Candover bought a majority stake in Ferretti from Permira
for €1.7bn in 2007, backed by a €1.215bn loan from Mediobanca and Royal Bank of
Scotland. Candover appointed Rothschild in January to advise on a debt restructuring
after the company breached its banking agreements. But the private equity firm failed
to reach an agreement with its lenders.



Royal Bank of Scotland reported that its loss for 2008 amounted to €26.9bn (£24.1bn)
— the largest annual loss in UK corporate history mainly due to its massive exposure
to toxic loans and its disastrous acquisition of the Dutch Bank ABN Amro.



Candover's 50.2 percent stake in Ferretti was valued at £48.6m in June 2008 and
represented 12.1 percent of the firm's asset base along with £5.5m of accrued note
interest. "On the terms proposed, Candover has decided not to participate in the
restructuring of Ferretti and believes its existing stake in the business now has
no value," Candover said in a statement.



Ferretti said that negotiations were now in "advanced" stages. Besides Ferretti
management, the deal would include an unnamed "primary" investor. "Norberto Ferretti
and the key managers expressed their full satisfaction with the negotiations to
date and confirmed their commitment to work towards finalizing the proposal and
then its successful and prompt implementation," read the Ferretti statement.



Under the proposal, Ferretti's level of debt would be reduced and credit lines reinstated.
The new proposal would see the company's management -- led by the company's co-founder,
Chairman and Chief Executive Norberto Ferretti -- put new equity into Ferretti along
with a new primary financial investor, the statement said.