Italian yacht maker Ferretti plans Chinese plant to boost sales

The Ferretti Group, whose Riva unit made boats for Brigitte Bardot and Sean Connery, intends to open an assembly plant on the mainland as its new Chinese parent company seeks to drive up sales in the country.

The Italian yacht maker was considering plans for the facility in Qingdao, Shandong province, Tan Xuguang, chairman of Ferretti and of its majority-owner Shandong Heavy Industry Group-Weichai Group, said in Beijing yesterday.

The plant would customise vessels for the market, he said.

Tan said Ferretti planned to boost sales in emerging markets, led by China, Brazil and Russia, as the euro-zone debt crisis sapped demand in Europe. Shandong Heavy, China's biggest maker of bulldozers, agreed to buy 75 per cent of the yacht maker from creditors in January for €178 million (HK$1.77 billion).

The boatbuilder, which also makes Ferretti, Pershing and Bertram brand yachts, would retain its existing management as well as its headquarters and production facilities in Italy, the two companies said in January. Its yachts can cost more than US$100 million each.

The yacht maker's bank liabilities had fallen to €116 million from €760 million after restructuring, Tan said. The company almost collapsed into bankruptcy in 2009 before creditors led by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group agreed to a debt-for-equity swap. RBS and Strategic Value Partners both own 12.5 per cent stakes in Ferretti following the January deal.