It is a small earthquake that has just shaken the Yachting Industry sector, with the bankruptcy of the Italian shipyard Perini Navi, on January 29th, by the Commercial Court of Lucca (Lucca - Viareggio).

The decision of the Lucca court to place Perini Navi in receivership followed its decision to refuse to endorse a restructuring plan presented by the Tabacchi family, owner of the shipyard through the company Fenix.

This receivership does not come as a surprise in itself, as Perini Navi is burdened with 100 million in debt and is cruelly lacking in equity. The procedure, which just started on January 29th, finds its source in September 2020, when the Tabacchi family announced a restructuring plan including a new investment from the Blue Skyes Investment Group fund of 30 million euros, consisting of a convertible loan over 4 years.

In short, the owners were desperately looking for cash - Blue Skye's specialty - even if it meant losing capital in the medium term, if they had not been able to repay this loan and its coquettish interest: 12%!!

It seems that this loan never came through - a question of assets as security - and in front of the 100 million euros of debts of the shipyard, the judges preferred to pronounce the receivership of Perini Navi, appointing Franco Della Santa, its receiver.

Franco Della Santa's role will be to determine the value of the shipyard's assets and then to put them up for sale, in a single block or in apartments, a prospect that would already interest players such as Sanlorenzo, Italian Sea Group and Ferretti Group!

Created in 1983 by Fabio Perini, the Perini Navi shipyard is a nugget in the world of luxury yachting, as much by the myth it has built over the years - the world leader in luxury sailing - through incredible megayachts such as Maltese Falcon or Felicita West, as by its 3 industrial sites based in Viareggio, La Spezia and Tuzla (Turkey).

In 2017, in the midst of initial difficulties, Fabio Perini opened the capital of his company to the Tabacchi family through the latter's structure, Fenix.

A predestined name, which, however, was not enough to perpetuate the structure and turn it around.