Superyacht maker Ferretti bought by a Chinese company

 

The world-renowned Italian yacht-builder Ferretti Group has been building gorgeous vessels since 1968, when Norberto Ferretti started the company. And they’ve designed and built only marvelous yachts so far. The Chinese Shangong Heavy Industries recently bought superyacht maker Ferretti, owning now 75% of its capital.

The main aspects of these Ferretti-designed ships are the gorgeous chromed accessories, opulent saloons and sleek tailoring. Already owning 8 yacht brands, Ferretti Group also owns and builds yachts over eight different shipyards throughout the world.

The brand they own are Pershing, Itama, Bertram, Riva, Mochi Craft, Ferretti Yachts, CRN and Ferretti Custom Line. Furthermore, as an additional part of the deal, Strategic Value Partners and Royal Bank of Scotland will also own 12.5% of the yacht-builder’s shares. All these have come after Ferretti’s 2009 downfall, after missing a loan payment on a debt.

Thus, the number of customers gravely decreased, being the start of a company crisis. Right after these unfortunate events, a group of creditors led by the Royal Bank of Scotland converted their debt to equity, thus avoiding Ferretti’s bankruptcy. Furthermore, the 2,000 employees of the company kept their jobs, while the yacht-market in China meets continuous growth.

This was one of the points for which the company was bought by a Chinese heavy-duty industrial producer.

As a consequence to these facts, it is believed that the number of powerboats and yachts in China will go farther than 10,000 pieces by 2015; assisted by Shandong Heavy, the Ferretti Group will be separately listed in Hong Kong in 3-5 years, as Tan Xuguang, the company’s chairman, declared. We hope all these are for the yacht-builder’s own good.