Piaggio Taken Over By Private Investor

MILAN, Italy (September 23) - Morgan Grenfell Private Equity has sold its majority shareholding in Piaggio to a private investor. This investor, Robert Colalinno, is the former owner of an Italian Telecom company. Together with a group of banks he took over all the shares that were owned by Morgan Grenfell. According to a member of the Piaggio management, the takeover by Colalinno only involves the Piaggio Group and its Vespa, Piaggio, Gilera and Derbi brands. This means that all other Piaggio interests in companies like MV Agusta, Cagiva and Husqvarna, which are brought together under the roof of Piaggio Holding S.p.A, are not included in the deal with Colalinno and the group of banks. What will happen with these interests and these companies remains unclear. Founded in 1884, and controlled by Morgan Grenfell Private Equity since December 1999, Piaggio, with its head office at Pontedera (Pisa), is the leading two-wheeler manufacturer in Europe. At the EICMA Show in Milan which closed its doors last Sunday, Giancarlo Binetti, Director of Piaggio's 2-Wheeler Business, said that 2003 is a satisfying year so far for the Piaggio Group. "Several of the major European markets, especially the biggest Italy, have started going against the downward trend. Our performance in the over 50cc scooter segment was excellent and today the Piaggio Group has a maket share of 28.5% in the overall 50cc and scooter market which stood at 27.3% a year ago." (JO)