Photo: Ferrari
Ferrari is now a publicly traded company, which means that soon enough everybody will be able to own a piece of it. In order to prevent one single entity from owning more than half of the company’s stakes, an alliance is being struck between two Italian families.
It sounds like the beginning of an Italian mobster movie, but it’s actually two very civilized people (and very rich) making sure a future takeover of the famous supercar maker is made impossible.
The two men are Piero Ferrari, the son of Enzo Ferrari himself, and John Elkann, chairman of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and head of the Agnelli family - the heirs of Fiat company’s founder.
Specific terms of the initial public offering (IPO) facilitate the acquisition of enough stakes by the two families to grant them almost half the voting rights, which means they would basically remain the decision makers inside the company.
"We have an agreement among the families to protect our interests in Ferrari," Piero Ferrari said. "We have a very strong understanding."
Piero Ferrari currently owns 10 percent of the company’s stocks and says he has no intention of selling them, while Exor, Agnelli’s holding company, will become the owners of about 23 percent of Ferrari after Fiat Chrysler lets go of its 80 percent stake.
Based on Ferrari’s loyalty share plan, pledging to retain the stakes for no less than three years will grant those stockholders special shares with increased voting rights. This way, the two families will end up controlling 48.7 percent of Ferrari, which is enough to keep away anybody who would attempt to buy the company.
Following the IPO, Ferrari’s value was estimated at about $12 billion (10.1 billion euros), which instantly made Piero Ferrari a billionaire with an estimated fortune of $1.4 billion (1.2 billion euros).
With so many emblematic carmakers now owned by not so emblematic Chinese or Indian companies, it’s very refreshing to know Ferrari will remain under Italian control, at least for the foreseeable future.
The two men are Piero Ferrari, the son of Enzo Ferrari himself, and John Elkann, chairman of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and head of the Agnelli family - the heirs of Fiat company’s founder.
Specific terms of the initial public offering (IPO) facilitate the acquisition of enough stakes by the two families to grant them almost half the voting rights, which means they would basically remain the decision makers inside the company.
"We have an agreement among the families to protect our interests in Ferrari," Piero Ferrari said. "We have a very strong understanding."
Piero Ferrari currently owns 10 percent of the company’s stocks and says he has no intention of selling them, while Exor, Agnelli’s holding company, will become the owners of about 23 percent of Ferrari after Fiat Chrysler lets go of its 80 percent stake.
Based on Ferrari’s loyalty share plan, pledging to retain the stakes for no less than three years will grant those stockholders special shares with increased voting rights. This way, the two families will end up controlling 48.7 percent of Ferrari, which is enough to keep away anybody who would attempt to buy the company.
Following the IPO, Ferrari’s value was estimated at about $12 billion (10.1 billion euros), which instantly made Piero Ferrari a billionaire with an estimated fortune of $1.4 billion (1.2 billion euros).
With so many emblematic carmakers now owned by not so emblematic Chinese or Indian companies, it’s very refreshing to know Ferrari will remain under Italian control, at least for the foreseeable future.
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