Ferrari Worth Over €5 Billion, Marchionne Says

Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said he’s told bankers pushing him to start and IPO of Ferrari that the supercar maker may be worth more than 5 billion euros ($7.3 billion), according to Bloomberg. The Prancing Horse is actually the company’s most profitable unit, with the company’s earnings before interest rising 23 percent last year to €302 million based on revenue of €1.92 billion.

“I’ve always viewed Ferrari as a sacred brand, and sacred brands are peculiar,” Marchionne said in an interview at Fiat’s headquarters in Turin, Italy. “I know I can float Ferrari any time, but there’s nothing on my desk.”

The Fiat CEO’s valuation is €2 billion over that stated by analysts 63 percent of Fiat’s total current market value of around €8 billion. In addition to Ferrari, Fiat also owns 30 percent of Chrysler, as well as the Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands.

According to Bloomberg, Standard & Poor’s lowered its rating on the Italian carmaker to BB from the already junk ranking of BB+ in February. At the time S&P stated that it could downgrade Fiat even further if it buys the majority stake in Chrysler in 2011. Marchionne, who also runs the American carmaker, said he has no immediate plan to list Ferrari because Fiat has enough cash to increase its Chrysler holding.

“It’s difficult to give a valuation of sacred brands like Ferrari. There are days when I think more than 5 billion euros,” Marchionne said in the April 4 interview.

“Ferrari is a trophy asset inside Fiat,” said Jochen Gehrke, a Deutsche Bank AG analyst who is ranked No. 1 among Fiat analysts tracked by Bloomberg. “Given the profitability it generates, an IPO would attract huge attention.”