KTM to pull out of MV Agusta majority stake?
According to reports, KTM’s parent company, Pierer Mobility AG, has decided to cut its majority ownership of MV Agusta, which it acquired less than a year ago.
Pierer Mobility AG announced in March that they were using a call option to acquire a 50.1% majority stake in MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. a year earlier than planned. KTM AG moved its industrial leadership and expanded the Varese, Italy factory to increase capacity. However, due to the company’s recent financial crisis, it has decided to sell its stake in the brand. KTM officials reportedly said MV Agusta was not “a strategic asset” as it tries to navigate the debt issues it faces.
MV Agusta will be an independent bike brand again and has already planned on selling the bikes built by KTM. The transfer of production activities will be finished by the spring of 2025.
KTM, like many other OEMs, is dealing with a slowdown in the motorcycle industry. However, KTM and its parent company, Pierer Mobility, still own the GasGas and Husqvarna brands. And the company may be getting more deeply involved with its Indian partner, Bajaj Auto, according to Car & Bike, an Indian enthusiast website.
MV Agusta management has addressed the potential sale by issuing an open letter to customers and dealers.
Dear customers and MV Agusta enthusiasts,
Looking with pride at what 2024 has been for MV Agusta, we are already working on what 2025 and the years ahead will bring.
We want to involve you by sharing accurate information and the company’s results. First, it’s important to know that all decisions, development, and operations related to MV Agusta happen in Varese. Between 2023 and 2024, 60% of the company’s management has been renewed with the addition of new professionals from the motorcycle and automotive sectors, both Italian and international. This strategy has made MV Agusta completely independent in all its operations.
Regarding the product, every phase happens internally: from initial design and briefing definitions to the development of prototypes at any level, all the way to industrialization and production. All these steps take place exclusively in Varese and at our Centro Stile MV Agusta.All of this makes MV Agusta a reality that can proudly claim to be truly Made-In-Italy. Commercial operations are also entirely based in Varese: sales, after-sales, customer service, and marketing are directly managed from the headquarters.
With 4,000 motorcycles sold in 2024, an annual growth of 116%, by July we had already reached the same sales volume as all of 2023. The test ride requests received in October 2024 alone equaled the total number of requests received in the entire previous year. Deliveries of the Superveloce 1000 Serie Oro started three weeks after the official launch in July 2024, and fewer than 20 bikes are still available at Official Dealers.
Currently, the network consists of 219 points of sale, including 41 service points, with an additional 20 non-European importers, aiming to reach 250 dealers by the end of 2025. Just in the last week, we inaugurated two beautiful new dealerships in Como, Italy and Montpellier, France.
As for spare parts, there is 99% availability for models produced in the last seven years, and this year the company recorded a historic high in spare parts sold. All motorcycles produced in Varese and their spare parts are stored in logistics hubs located in Austria for the European market, in the United States for the Americas, in Japan, and in Australia for Asia, from where they are distributed to the sales network worldwide.
In 2024, we introduced 9 new models, and the development work for the new generation of motorcycles is proceeding as planned. It will be a completely new, innovative range, designed to be at the top of the reference segments. Something no one outside the company has yet seen. The people who made these results possible will remain in Varese, and nothing will change regarding business operations, as the ownership has never interfered with them.
The current situation of the shareholding structure is still being defined, with shareholders working together to determine the future corporate structure, aiming to ensure that MV Agusta continues to grow and reach the heights it deserves.
The entire MV Agusta team thanks you for your support and trust, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Meanwhile, KTM’s financial troubles worsen as reports show workers being unpaid. Citibank is now stepping in to help with the debt load that is reportedly around $3 billion USD.
The company entered a voluntary self-managed restructuring, the Austrian version of Chapter 11 in the U.S., but with the company brass in charge of the proceedings.
According to an announcement from Pierer AG:
PIERER Mobility has appointed Citigroup to reorganize its ownership structure. The Austrian-based company is currently in talks with potential strategic and financial investors. These include both existing partners as well as new strategic and financial investors.
Citigroup Global Markets Europe AG was appointed today to support this process in a structured, transparent, and efficient manner that is in the best interest of all stakeholders.
The objective of the investment process is to have investors subscribe to a necessary cash capital increase or financial instruments of PIERER Mobility AG. These funds will be used to strengthen the PIERER Mobility Group, in particular KTM AG.
In order to finalize the structured investor process, it will be necessary to convene a shareholders’ meeting in due course to pass the relevant resolutions.
We still think that KTM and its parent company will survive this crisis, but the costs are mounting, and unless some significant cuts are made, such as the MV Agusta sale, it may have to shed even more weight soon.
