The Volkswagen Group, which owns Ducati through its Audi division and its Lamborghini subsidiary, has decided to put Ducati up for sale. Several companies and investment funds have expressed their interest and the Italian manufacturer should change ownership fairly quickly, that is to say before the EICMA in Milan in mid-November. .
An American court validated last April an agreement concluded between Volkswagen and the American authorities providing for the payment of a criminal fine of 2,8 billion dollars in the tampered diesel engine scandal. In total, Volkswagen agreed to pay $23 billion to the United States, notably to compensate some 600 motorists and repair the damage caused to the environment by its diesel engines.
Ducati's selling price is known: 1,5 billion euros (for 2016 turnover of 593 million). It represents approximately 15 times the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) valued at 100 million.
Andrea Bonomi's Investindustrial group, which sold Ducati to Audi in 2012, is interested in its buyout. He has 5,6 billion in investment funds.
Harley-Davidson is also in the running, and has hired Goldman Sachs to finalize the deal. The Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto (which manufactures two-wheelers and three-wheelers, but not automobiles, despite its name) is also interested. Its turnover is $3,5 billion. The investment funds most motivated by the purchase are currently KKR, Bain Capital and Périma.
In Italy, the possible purchase of Ducati by Harley-Davidson is no laughing matter. We remember that Harley bought MV Agusta for $109 million before reselling it two years later to Claudio Castiglioni for $4 (Not 4 million, 4 dollars).
In Germany, Volkswagen's powerful unions, which control half the seats on the automaker's 20-member supervisory board, repeated their opposition to the sale of the Italian motorcycle maker. “ Ducati is a gem whose sale is not supported by staff representatives of the Volkswagen supervisory board ", said a spokesperson for the VW Group works council. “Harley-Davidson is light years ahead of Ducati in terms of technology. »
However, we should not be too quick to give a negative image of a potential American buyer, whoever they may be. Ducati was happy to be bought and saved in 1996 when Texas Pacific Group bought the company from Cagiva, before being sold in 2006 to Investindustrial, then in 2012 to Audi.
Photos © Ducati
Sources: Pamela Barbaglia for Reuters, (Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt, Andreas Cremer in Berlin, Naomi Tajitsu in Tokyo, Aditi Shah in New Delhi and Kane Wu in Hong Kong), Le Figaro
