FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 30 -- Texas Pacific Group, a Fort Worth-based private investment group, said Monday it has acquired a controlling interest in the Italian company that makes the popular Ducati high-performance motorcycles. A spokesman said TPG, which manages TPG Partners L.P. founded in 1994 with a capitalization of $720 million, acquired 51 percent of Ducati from the Cagiva Group based in Bologna, Italy.
Terms were not disclosed but the transaction made up of equity and debt is believed to be about $225 million. A bank group led by Deutsche Morgan Grenfell and including Banque Paribas and Banca Commerciale Italiana provided the financing, the announcement said. Brothers Claudio and Gianfranco Castiglioni of the Cagiva Group, who have owned Ducati since buying it in 1985, will retain the remaining 49 percent stake in Ducati, the spokesman said. Claudio Castiglioni will continue to be the chairman of the new entity to be called Ducati Motor S.p.A. TPG specializes in corporate acquisitions. Its past deals have included acquisitions of airlines, healthcare, food, wine, entertainment, telephone, energy and waste management companies. Ducati motorcycles, which have won numerous victories in the World Superbike Championship, retail between $10,000 and $40,000 per unit. The vehicles feature an engine technology, frame and body design that allow for superior handling at high speeds, the announcement said. The joint venture, which will inject new capital into the company, expects to double Ducati sales and production in the next four years. Ducati's sales, which have been growing at 25 percent annually, totaled about $200 million last year on volume of 20,000 units. Currently, Ducati motorcycles are sold in 40 countires with 70 percent of the total sales concentrated in Europe and another 15 percent in the United States.
