Italian Sea Group Buys Yachtbuilder Perini Navi Out of Bankruptcy

The Italian Sea Group, a megayacht builder based near La Spezia, has purchased the assets of sailing yacht builder Perini Navi at bankruptcy auction for $80 million. 

The auction award includes Perini Navi's shipyards in Viareggio and La Spezia, one incomplete newbuild project under construction, a building complex in Pisa, and all IP and business relationships. The firm has already acquired two additional Perini Navi vessel projects under construction and is completing them at its NCA Refit division. 

"[Italian Sea Group] is extremely satisfied with the acquisition, operation that it has followed ever since the beginning and that perfectly integrates with its growth strategy and its competencies in the sailing yacht sector," the firm said in a statement. 

The new owners plan to keep the Perini Navi brand intact, noting that the high second-hand values paid for the yard's previous vessels are a sign of Perini Navi's enduring reputation. Many of Italian Sea Group's recent new hires have been brought in from Perini Navi, and they will be well-placed to help manage the transition. In addition, Italian Sea Group already has strong familiarity with Perini Navi's methods, because its yard has done refit/repair work on half of the vessels Perini Navi has built over the years. 

The expansion of yard capacity will allow Italian Sea Group to double the intake of refit projects and compete for new contracts for megayachts of up to 425 feet in length. 

"The new production spaces will allow us to increase incoming orders for the future in a very dynamic segment, as proven by the two orders for sailing yachts that we signed in December. We are therefore confident to have made the right decision," said Giovanni Constantino, the founder and CEO of Italian Sea Group. 

Perini Navi is perhaps best known as the builder of the 290-foot Maltese Falcon, one of the most complex and sophisticated vessels of her kind. The vessel has three unstayed, rotating carbon fiber masts, each equipped with automatically furling square rig sails.