Story ID: 
Bidding Process Reopens for Piaggio Aerospace
By: Chad Trautvetter
Caption: Piaggio Aerospace extraordinary commissioner Vincenzo Nicastro has reopened the bidding process for the sale of the Avanti Evo manufacturer.
Word Count: 223
Piaggio Aerospace extraordinary commissioner Vincenzo Nicastro today officially reopened the bidding process for the sale of the Avanti Evo manufacturer after negotiations with a single prospective buyer—reportedly a consortium headed by the Swedish fund Summa Equity—faltered late last year. Parties have until February 28 to send expressions of interest.

The company, which entered receivership in 2018, had originally attracted 19 expressions of interest for the acquisition of Piaggio Aero Industries and Piaggio Aviation, the companies operating under the Piaggio Aerospace brand. That was narrowed to four parties a year ago and in July Nicastro began negotiations with a single potential investor.

“Discussions with a number of counterparties are still ongoing, but we want to ensure we can guarantee the company’s long-term future,” Nicastro said. “That’s why we are formally starting the sale process again, but not from scratch. The preparatory work on the data room is already done, while we have set very tight deadlines for the due diligence and bid submission phases to speed up the process.”

He said the objective is to sell Piaggio Aerospace in its entirety to a buyer “able to propose a solid plan for the relaunch and development of the company and…recognize its fair value.” Piaggio recorded €152 million in revenues last year and has a €500 million backlog.