Third Time Lucky at Auction as Perini Navi is Acquired for €80m

The Italian Sea Group had its bid accepted at an auction that took place at Lucca’s court of law.

Having been put up for auction twice previously in July and September Perini Navi was finally obtained by one of the major firms in the superyacht industry.

The acquisition of Perini Navi is hoped to lead to an expansion of production capacity, a doubling of refit capacity and contracts for the construction of 90–130m megayachts.

Founder of The Italian Sea Group, Giovanni Costantino, expressed delight and pride at having been successfully awarded the shipyard.

“We wanted to push forward with the investment, but we have approached the auction with absolute determination to acquire all of the asset considering our consolidated competence and the new contracts, in particular in the segment of large sailing yachts,” said Constantino.

The CEO continued, “The new production spaces will allow us to increase incoming order for the future in a very dynamic segment, as proven by the two orders for sailing yachts that we signed in December. We are therefore confident to have made the right decision, driven by an incoming order that has exceeded expectations by 50%.”

The deal includes the real estate and industrial assets of the shipyards in La Spezia and Viareggio, the 47m sailing yacht under construction currently known as Project 2369 as well as a building complex in Pisa.

Whilst these material assets are of great value, so too are any trademarks, patents or existing legal relationships that have been picked up as part of the deal.

The eye-watering fee of €80m was considered too high by other competitors in the bidding war, such as Ferretti Group and Sanlorenzo, which poses questions about how The Italian Sea Group will finance the deal.

According to reports, the acquisition will be funded through a combination of reinvestment of proceeds garnered through its IPO, “cash availability” and “bank funding lines”.