Pininfaria is officially an Indian company: the transfer of control of 76% of the capital from Pincar, the holding company of the founding family, to Pf Holdings, vehicle of the Indian group Mahindra, has been formalised. This was announced in a note from Pincar, specifying that, in execution of the December agreements, the Pininfarina shares were purchased at 1,10 euros per share, a price at which, "within the timeframe established by the applicable legislation", a public offer of 'purchase.
For the purpose of completing the transfer of control, Pininfarina's lenders released the shares from the pledge set up for their benefit by Pincar. Among other things, the Pincar-Mahindra agreement provides for the commitment by the Indian group to invest 20 million through a Pininfarina capital increase, offered to all shareholders, by the end of 2016
The members of the board of directors, as agreed, have resigned which will be effective from the meeting called for August 3rd for the renewal of the board which will in any case see the confirmation of Paolo Pininfarina and Silvio Angori in the role of chairman and director respectively delegate. The CEO of TechMahindra, CP Gurnani, immediately enters the board by cooptation (in place of the outgoing Gianfranco Albertini).
The agreement “represents a fundamental step in the history of Pininfarina – commented the chairman Paolo Pininfarina -. With the support of the investor, the company acquires the financial and patrimonial solidity necessary to return to invest, grow, innovate and be competitive on the global market. All this takes place by confirming the roots in the territory in terms of corporate governance, management center, style and engineering skills, as well as the brand. Pininfarina will keep its corporate identity and vision intact, respecting a tradition and a history of over 85 years".
The rescheduling agreement concluded in execution of the Pininfarina recovery plan with a pool of banks has also become effective: pursuant to the agreement, some institutions, representing approximately 58% of total financial receivables, have agreed to pay the balance and write-off of their receivables from Pininfarina, while Intesa Sanpaolo, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Banca Regionale Europea, Selmabipiemme Leasing and Mediocredito Italiano have agreed on a new plan for the rescheduling of their receivables from the company.
In this context, the parties signed a loan agreement under which the new controlling shareholder granted the company an interest-bearing shareholder loan of 16 million, at an interest rate of 25 basis points and expiring on 1 January 2017, with the possibility for the lender to convert this amount into a capital increase account. These funds were destined, in addition to the company's available funds, to pay the lenders who opted for a payment in full and excerpt.
The residual financial debt will be repaid starting from 2017, while 2015 and 2016 constitute two years of pre-amortisation.
