* Ducati will be Volkswagen’s 12th brand
* Deal to be completed as quickly as possible
* Sources put price at about 860 mln euros
(Adds comments by Audi CEO, Investindustrial)
BERLIN, April 18 (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s Audi
division said it agreed to buy Italian motorcycle maker Ducati,
adding a 12th brand to the German auto maker’s portfolio of
passenger cars, trucks and ultra-luxury vehicles.
The 20-member supervisory board of Europe’s largest car
maker approved the purchase on Wednesday, Audi said in a
statement. It did not disclose details of the deal, though
sources told Reuters on April 17 that Audi agreed to buy Ducati
for about 860 million euros ($1.13 billion).
Ducati, which has won 13 rider’s Superbike World
Championships since 1988, will extend Audi’s long-standing
rivalry with BMW to superbikes.
“As a sporty, global premium brand, Ducati is an excellent
fit for Audi,” the company’s chief Rupert Stadler said.
Audi outsold Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz last year
and has vowed to surpass BMW for the top spot in luxury car
sales this decade.
Audi said it aimed to complete the purchase of Ducati from
Italy’s Investindustrial as quickly as possible once it has
received approval by the relevant regulators.
Analysts have questioned the Ducati purchase, saying the
move bears no economic or industrial logic and solely reflects
VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech’s passion for the Italian company’s
expertise on design and light engines.
“I can’t think of a concrete reason for Audi to warrant a
business case for buying Ducati,” said Stefan Bratzel, director
of the Center of Automotive at the University of Applied
Sciences in Bergisch-Gladbach.
“Ducati doesn’t enhance Audi’s business model in any way,
it’s just a trophy in the wall cabinet,” he added.
Ducati also brings in liabilities of well below 200 million
euros, one official told Reuters.
Ducati makes about 40,000 two-wheelers a year across its
range of cruiser, supermoto, adventure, naked and superbikes
that include the muscular Diavel and dual sport Hypermotard. By
comparison, industry leader Honda sold over 16 million
motorcycles last year.
Investindustrial bought Ducati in 2006 and has since grown
the motorbike maker’s annual revenues by 37 percent to 480
million euros. Ducati had earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortisation of 51 million euros last year.
“We believe that Audi is the best partner to continue the
process of globalisation that is already successfully underway,”
Andrea Bonomi, chairman of Investindustrial, said.
Under Piech, who looks set to win re-election as chairman at
VW’s annual general meeting in Hamburg on Thursday, VW expanded
its empire to include everything from fuel-efficient city cars
to 40-tonne trucks.
The Wolfsburg-based car maker is currently looking for ways
to buy a remainder of 50.1 percent of sports-car maker Porsche
and said on April 13 that it further raised its
majority stake in truck maker MAN.
($1 = 0.7610 euros)
(Reporting By Andreas Cremer; Additional reporting by Jennifer
Clark in Milan, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
