Last August the financial comunity was reporting the rumor that Italian private equity group Investindustrial (backed by the Bonomi family) who has owned Ducati for the past three years, had sounded out a Hong Kong public listing for Ducati for an initial public offering (IPO) of £875 million, however now the Financial Times is reporting that they could be looking to sale to a rival or large car group for up to 1 billion pounds.
“Ducati is now a perfect company but the further growth it requires needs the support of a world-class industrial partner,” said Andrea Bonomi, Investindustrial’s chairman.
“This year, we will work towards that partner.
”A handful of industrial groups in Asia, Europe and the US are interested in Ducati with possible buyers including Indian motorcycle group Mahindra and German car groups such as Volkswagen and BMW.
Last year Ducati reported selling 42.
200 motorcycles with an increase in sales of 21,5%.