Luxury yacht family business considers sale

Ferretti, the Italian luxury yacht builder founded by the Ferretti brothers, is reportedly considering selling to Chinese machinery group Shandong Heavy Industry in a bid to restructure the family business’s assets.

According to the Financial Times, the debt-burdened group, which owns brands such as Pershing, Itama and Riva as well as its own Ferretti Yachts and Ferretti Custom Line, is considering a deal that would see Shandong repaying its creditors.

These include private equity firms Oaktree Capital and Strategic Value Partners, which together own about 60% of the group’s debts, and Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns an additional 12%.

This is the latest in a series of debt restructuring attempts, which started in 2007 when Candover, a private equity firm based in London, bought the majority of the Italian company for €1.7 billion.

Brothers Alessandro and Norberto Ferretti established Ferretti in 1968. Today, Norberto and the group’s management own a 38.2% stake in the company but they control 100% of its voting rights.