Italy’s Agnelli family holding company, Exor, said it planned to sell a 4 per cent stake in luxury sports car group Ferrari to pursue new acquisitions and launch a share buyback.
Exor’s net asset value peaked at about €42bn last year with Ferrari contributing about half of the amount. The Netherlands-based investment group is also the single largest shareholder in carmaker Stellantis, football club Juventus and Dutch medical devices group Philips.
The holding company said it planned to raise about €3bn in the accelerated book-building process and it will use the proceeds for a “sizeable new acquisition” and a €1bn share buyback.
The company’s chief John Elkann has refocused Exor’s portfolio over the past two decades through divestments and debt reduction. He is now targeting investment diversification, according to the statement.
“Over the past decade Ferrari’s performance has been a major driver behind Exor’s tripling its net asset value and its success has taken its share in our portfolio from approximately 15 per cent to 50 per cent. The transaction will allow us to reduce concentration,” Elkann said.
The announcement comes as the Porsche-Piech family that controls Volkswagen and Porsche this week said it was to further diversify away from its automotive businesses.
Ferrari’s share price hit a record €483 this week. Earlier this month, the group said its revenues had increased almost 12 per cent year on year with total sales of more than 13,700 units.
The luxury-car brand had enjoyed an increase in demand for its higher-priced cars as personalised features such as bespoke paint jobs became popular among customers including in the US and China.
Ferrari’s Formula 1 performance has disappointed fans for the better part of the past decade, and two years ago chief executive Benedetto Vigna and Elkann, who is the group chair, brought in a new team principal and driver Sir Lewis Hamilton, helping reinvigorating the team, sponsors and its fans.
The group also expanded into fashion by launching an apparel line that sought to woo a younger generation of customers and crystallise Ferrari’s positioning as a luxury group rather than a sports car company.
Elkann said that Exor remained committed to remaining Ferrari’s largest shareholder for the long term and that the stake sale would prompt no changes in the group’s governance structure.
“Our support and our trust in its solid future remains unwavering,” Elkann said.