Italy's Ferretti readies end-March Hong Kong listing - sources

Sanlorenzo SpA

23/02/2022 15:26

MILAN, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Italian luxury yacht maker
Ferretti is aiming to list in Hong Kong at the end of March
through an initial public offering that could be worth between
$400 million and $500 million, three people close to the matter
said on Wednesday.
    The group, which is controlled by Chinese conglomerate
Weichai Group, is targeting a free float of around 25%, two of
the people added. 
    Ferretti is currently meeting investors in Europe and Asia,
looking also for cornerstone investors, the two people said.
    The deal may yet face headwinds as equity markets across the
world are disrupted by geopolitical turmoil due the threat of a
full-scale war in Ukraine.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2UX0F8
    The Italian group declined to comment.
    The yacht maker filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at
the end of December, with investment bank CICC as sole sponsor,
but IPO details were not disclosed.
    "We intend to meet the evolving demands in the luxury yacht
industry, especially towards larger and more profitable yachts",
the group said in the filing. 
    In 2019 Ferretti attempted to list in Milan but eventually
pulled out because it was not satisfied with the price. At that
time the group was chasing a valuation of up to 1.08 billion
euros ($1.2 billion).
    Ferretti, which designs, produces and sells luxury composite
and made-to-measure yachts, controls seven brands: Riva, Wally,
Ferretti Yachts, Pershing, Itama, CRN and Custom Line. 
    The group's revenues stood at 669 million euros for the
first nine months of 2021, with an order backlog of 984 million
euros and an adjusted core profit of 84 million euros, more than
doubled compared to a year earlier.
    Such growth will be hard to matched in the coming years,
according to one analyst. Last year brought an order boom for
the multi-billion-dollar global luxury boat industry as the
number of billionaires grew and the pandemic added to incentives
for avoiding crowds.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2RT68P
   In the last two years, Italian rival Sanlorenzo  SNL.MI  and
The Italian Sea Group  TISGR.MI  listed on the Milan Stock
Exchange. 
    

($1 = 0.8816 euros)

 (Reporting by Elisa Anzolin in Milan, Lucy Raitano in London
and Scott Murdoch in Sydney
Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
 ((elisa.anzolin@thomsonreuters.com; 0039 0266129692;))