An agreement was reached for German Volkswagen’s Audi to buy Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati from its owner Investindustrial SpA for about $1.1 billion (860 million euros) including debt of about $260 million (200 million euros.)
The deal, minus debt, should be signed today and would value Ducati at about seven times last year’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Last year, Ducati sold about 42,000 motorcycles worldwide with a strong progression in North America. Revenue for for 2011 were $630 million (480 million euros)In April 2008 the Volkswagen Group already tried to buy Ducati before eventually losing out to Investindustrial SpA. Ducati will be the 11th brand in VW’s portfolio, alongside high-end car brands like Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti. Since February ,when Investindustrial SpA publicly announced its intention to sell Ducati, Daimler AG which makes Mercedes-Benz cars and Hero MotoCorp Ltd., India’s biggest motorcycle manufacturer, had also expressed interest in the Italian brand . Are we going to see Ducatis in Audi showrooms?
Interesting considering they have AMG branded models.
There goes the neighborhood….
Better the Germans than the Indians
Bad news , Bad news and even more bad news . Now we’ll be able to count on the combination of Audi reliability ( very bad as are all VW -Audi products ) as well as the inherent lousy Italian reliability of Ducati . all topped off by what will soon be Porsche repair and maintenance costs . On a M/C.
All so VW- Audi can satisfy their BMW envy thats been in place since VW-Audi and BMW went head to head over the ownership of Rolls Royce .. with BMW coming out the winner in that one .
Be guaranteed gentlemen . With VW-Audi’s fiances what they are ( not what they’re reporting ) along with the new debt they’ve just incurred with this Ducati purchase VW -Audi and now Ducati as well are heaing for a major fall .e.g. If you’ve got stock in either …. SELL !
Anagram… DUCATI = AUDI.CT
VW Group has become the General Motors of Germany. if they do fall , Porsche will be kicked out so fast their heads will spin.. but as always Porsche will still survive. VW/Audi is the same as the toyota/lexus connection, but Audi’s leave you scratching your head going , “thats it? this is what i payed for?”
Personally I think Ducati will be in decent hands… it may help the company alot…. but i cant help but feel dirty when i think of germans and italians working together…. stemming from my long time hatred of Ferarri, and long time support of Porsche…. either way im sure Ducati is in good hands
The way of the world, buying and selling brands and leaving behind the nature of the founders and their country. The last REAL Ducatis were made in the mid-1990’s when the first 916s came off the (hand) assembly line.