Pininfarina is on track in the quest to restructure its debt, according to a report from Reuters. The famed Italian styling house shuttered its manufacturing business in 2011, ending a joint venture with Volvo that had seen Pininfarina assemble the C70, in order to focus on its automotive design business.
While good news for the long-term financial health of the company, the deal will hand the Pininfarina family’s 77-percent controlling share over to creditor banks that include Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Mediobanca and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.
Previous plans called for a sale of the company, but Reuters reports that no serious offers were ever made – apparently, because any potential suitors can contract with Pininfarina whenever necessary, outright ownership of the company was deemed unnecessary.
In any case, it sounds as if Pininfarina’s design consultancy will continue to pump out beautiful Italian shapes for the foreseeable future, the only change being that it won’t be controlled by the descendants of Battista “Pinin” Farina as it has since its founding in 1930.
autoblog
