SALE OF MOTO GUZZI TO APRILIA S.P.A.
Noale (Venice), 14th April '00 - Today an agreement was signed at Noale
by Messrs Beggio (President
of Aprilia S.p.A) and Bulgari (Board Member of Moto Guzzi Corporation)
for the acquisition by Aprilia
S.p.A. of Moto Guzzi S.p.A. and the three commercial companies Moto
Guzzi France S.a.r.l., MGI
Motorcycle GmbH and Moto Guzzi North America Inc. which are all owned
by Moto Guzzi
Corporation.
The purchase price including the assumption of debt is equivalent to
132 billion Lire.
The agreement is subject to the approval of Moto Guzzi Corporation
shareholders. The majority
shareholder O.A.M. S.p.A. (a subsidiary of Trident Rowan Group) has
already signalled its intention to
vote in favour of the agreement at the shareholders meeting.
In addition the parties have agreed that Aprilia will be involved in
the management of the four
subsidiaries as from 1 May 2000. Gianni Bulgari will become for a transition
period the President of
Moto Guzzi S.p.A. and his appointment will take place in the next few
days.
" We are delighted to see Moto Guzzi pass into the hands of Aprilia
as we are convinced that this will
ensure a continued turnaround of the Company", said Mark Hauser Chairman
and Chief Executive of
Moto Guzzi Corporation.
"We have recently brought an important new product - the V11 Sport -
to the market and it is enjoying
considerable success. We had, however, reached the conclusion that
further major investments are
needed and that a company such as Aprilia was ideally placed to implement
such a programme."
"We have worked with determination" said Ivano Beggio, President of
Aprilia S.p.A., "to return into
Italian hands a brand of great tradition that has contributed to motorcycling
history. The agreement that
we have reached gives me particular satisfaction and the objective
of realising the full potential of the
"Eagle" brand of Mandello Lario represents a new challenge that I am
looking forward to. We want to
construct a national motorcycle grouping combining tradition and strong
innovative capacities which
will be internationally competitive".
"Moto Guzzi," explained President Beggio ,"will continue to be based
at its historical site at Mandello
and the products will mantain all the sought after characteristics
that have made them famous, while at
the same time taking advantage of Aprilia's technological and R&D
capabilities. It is our intention to
commit all of the know-how and financial resources that will be necessary
for the success of this
project".
Moto Guzzi was advised by Banca IMI, lead by Dr. Christopher Wigley
and Aprilia was advised by
Caretti & Associati lead by Dr. Francesco Caretti.
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