Well, it’s look like this Italian motorcycle manufacturer is on the market again. The company has been exchanging hands for quite a bit recently. It was first resurrected by Cagiva after it purchased the rights to the name in 1991. The first ‘modern’ MV Agusta rolled off the factory in 1997. In 1999, the group was restructured for strategic purposes and MV Agusta became the main brand replacing Cagiva comprising Cagiva and Husqvarna.
Heavily indebted, the manufacturer was bought by Proton in December 2004 for 70 million Euros. In December 2005 however, Proton decided to cut its ties with MV Agusta and sold it to GEVI SpA, a Genoa-based financing company related to Carige, for the famous one euro excluding debt totaling 106.95 million Euros and working capital requirements of 32.50 million Euros.
In 2006 that financing company, GEVI SpA, with 65% of the share capital, had refinanced MV Agusta, and by so doing allowed the company to continue, and brought MV Agusta ownership back to Italy.
In July 2007, MV Agusta Motor S.p.A, sold the Husqvarna motorcycle brand to BMW for an undisclosed amount leaving the group with only MV Agusta and Cagiva brands. According to MV Agusta president Claudio Castiglioni, the sale was a strategic step to concentrate all of the company's resources in order to expand MV Agusta and Cagiva presence in the international markets having more financial resources for new models development.
On July 11, 2008, Harley-Davidson announced they had signed a definitive agreement to acquire the MV Agusta Group for 70 million Euros. The purchase raised hopes for a new direction for the company. The acquisition was completed on August 8, 2008.
On October this year, Harley-Davidson Inc reported a smaller-than-expected profit on Thursday, sending its shares lower in premarket trading, as the economy's slow recovery weighed on bike sales.The company plans to discontinue its Buell product line and sell its MV Agusta unit, essentially exiting the sport bike market. It expects to book $125 million in one-time costs associated with the moves.
Harley-Davidson's third-quarter profit tumbled 84 percent to $26.5 million, or 11 cents a share, from $166.5 million, or 71 cents, a year earlier. Sales fell 21 percent to $1.12 billion. Harley Davidson has decided to leave the sports bike market to focus on the typical Harley kind of heavy and noise hog, in a ‘back to basics’ kind of move.
source: reuters ; paultan ; wikipedia
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