Cagiva/ducati Divorce
CAGIVA/DUCATI DIVORCE
Ducati’s 15-year union with the Cagiva Group ended recently when the Castiglioni brothers sold their remaining interest in the legendary Italian sportbike manufacturer to their new American “partners,” the Texas Pacific Group.
In a press release dated July 31st, TPG announced that in conjunction with Luxembourg-based Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Development Capital Italy and other, unnamed co-investors, it had purchased the remaining 49 percent of Ducati S.p.A. from Claudio and Gianfranco Cas-
tiglioni. TPG originally bought into Ducati two years ago, on July 26th, 1996. No terms were disclosed.
A statement from the new owners read, “We were eager to invest more heavily in Ducati, and the Castiglionis have wanted to pursue other business ventures. The agreement we reached benefits all concerned, and it reiterates our satisfaction with the company’s performance and prospects.”
What this means for Ducati is its financial future is secure. No longer will the company suffer at the hands
of a management team that somehow parlayed World Superbike domination into near-bankruptcy. Furthermore, Ducati will continue to operate as-is, without interference from its new owners. “It’s not the Texas Pacific Group’s style to meddle,” explained spokesman Owen Blicksilver. “Their style is to bring in a solid management team and let them run the business.” Which they did in 1996, when Federico Minoli assumed the helm at Ducati.
At presstime, Italy was enjoying its traditional August
holiday, thus no one from Cagiva could be reached for comment. But it’s no secret that the Castiglionis were in deep financial doo-doo prior to their original, partial sale of Ducati, the money from which largely went to repay debts. The sale of the remaining half should, however, provide funding to enable the brothers to develop the Cagiva, Husqvarna, Moto Morini and MV Agusta marques they still own. The company is, in fact, planning to unveil new models at the upcoming Munich Show.
-Brian Catterson
