Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128379
Ducati Undergoes Refinance D ucati Motor Holding S.pA (NYSE: DMH and Borsa ltaliana S.p.A: DMH) announced that a syndicated loan for a total of 100 million euros ($126 U.S.) was signed on May 9, 2005. The new financing, organized by Unicredit Banca Mobiliare, will be funded by Unicredit Banca d'impresa, Banca Intesa, b) a revolving credit line for a total of 36.4 million euros ($4S.9 U.S.), with a one-year renewable expiry date and a variable rate with a 120 basis point spread over Euribor. Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. Carisbo, The financing will be used: a) to repay the outstanding S4.2 million euros ($68.3 U.S.) of the total initial bond Fortis Bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena and Banca Popolare di Bergamo to Ducati Motor Holding S.pA and Ducati Corse s.r.i., and makes provision for the following credit lines: a) a main long-term credit line for a total of 63.6 million euros ($71.8 U.S.), which matures S years from the date of signing the financing contract, and a variable interest rate with a ISO basis point spread over the three-month Euribor. The interest rate for both credit lines provides for a step-up/step-down mechanism, subject to Ducati's economic and financiaJ results. amount of 100 million euro, with a fixed annual coupon of 6.5 percent and maturity on May 31, 2OOS. b) for other requirements related to the company's working capital. c) for Ducati Corse's payment of the Ducati Corse-brand purchase as previously communicated by the company on November 26, 2004. The financing, guaranteed by Ducati Motor Holding S.pA and Ducati Corse s.r.!. includes certain restrictions relating to: a) the distribution of dividends and/or reserves b) the sale of group assets c) the iSSUing of guarantees d) third-party loans "The duration of the loan, which guarantees a stable source of funding, and the spread, halved with regard to the maturing bond, confirm the financial institutions' trust in Ducati and its business plan," Enrico D'Onofrio, Ducati's chief financial officer, said. "We would like to thank the banks, under the arrangement of Unicredit Banca Mobiliare, for their finan- cial support." Federico Minoli, president and CEO of Ducati, said that the company is very satis- Perseverance Pays for Tonglet fied with the outcome of its refinancing operation. "This financing, with its favorable economic conditions, will aJlow us to concen- trate fully on our product development plans," Minoli said. Founded in 1926, Ducati develops racing-inspired motorcycles characterized by unique engine features, innovative design, advanced engineering and overall technical excellence. The company produces motorcycles that vary in their technical and design features, and in their intended customers, for six market segments: superbike, supers port; monster, sport touring, Multistrada and sport classic. Ducati's motorcycles are sold in more than 60 countries worldwide, with a primary focus in the Western European and North American markets. race day as he cruised to wins over Wesley Rivas left the starting line first against Wells and former NHRA champ Angelle Sampey with runs of 7.11 and 7.10. Paired in mate, Andrew Hines, win three races the semifinals with another former champ, and the championship in 2004. Tonglet's wait ended at the Summit Racing NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta as he downed first-time finalist Chris Rivas in the final round. "I have paid a lot of dues over the Trim Tex Suzuki's Geno Scali, Tonglet lowered the boom with a 7.08, the quickest run runs at the start of the weekend and just kept Tonglet, but his bike spun the tire and moved toward the wall, which was all the room Tonglet needed to claim the win by a 7.1 O-to7.24 margin. "I knew I left first and I didn't see him for a long time, but his 7.10 was a heck of a run," Rivas said. "It would have been tough to beat that. Still, I'm really proud of what we did this weekend, especially since it was just our third race." For Tonglet, the win came with an added last few years, but winning this race working on it until it was just about perfect. bonus as he rocketed from fourth to first in makes it all worthwhile," Tonglet said. "For the last two years, I knew That bike is so much fun to ride when it's run- the NHRA Powerade points standings. It's ning like that." Amazingly, Rivas was making just his third start in NHRA competition. Riding an S&Spowered Buell for the new Mohegan Sun team, Rivas did not qualify in his debut in Gainesville and then lost in the opening round the first time in his career he's been the topranked rider. of the recent Houston race. In Atlanta, the team showed a remarkable improvement as stay there the rest of the year. I've got so especially after watching his team- we had the potential to win; I just Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team. Tonglet never regretted making the move, never had any luck. Now I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. " Tonglet didn't need much luck in Atlanta as his Screamin' Eagle V-Rod was one of the quickest bikes in the field. Tonglet's 7.14 run during qualifying was second only to team- but he did wonder just how long it would mate Hines' track record 7.09. Four years ago, former NHRA Rookie of the Year G.T. Tonglet gave up a promising career aboard his family-owned Suzuki for a full factory ride with the upstart Screamin' Eagle take him to return to the winner's circle, Tonglet was not seriously challenged on 14 MAY 25, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS "My crew chief, Matt Hines, and I worked really hard on our setup this weekend, and it paid off," Tonglet said. "We made some good Rivas qualified fourth with a 7.15 and defeated Mike Berry, Chip Ellis and Craig Treble to "I didn't know until after the race was over, but it's pretty cool to be number one right now," Tonglet said. "The way the bike is running, I don't see any reason why we can't much confidence right now." Prior to the Atlanta race, Rivas' entire NHRA career had consisted of just two races. Kevin McKenna move into his first final. I implication, contributing significantly to Aprilia's financial demise]. In the same way, we ought not to have at the French GP at Le Mans on May IS, as well as with Jawa, located just across the border in the Czech Republic, where signed up riders as expensive as Witteveen Speaks Out Dutchman Jan Witteveen was Aprilia's race manager for more than IS years, during which time he not only won the Italian manufacturer and its race-mad owner Ivano Beggio a hatful of World titles, he also brought first Max Biaggi and then Valentino Rossi to the Grand Prix paddock and gave them the bikes to win their first World titles with. But in the wake of the Piaggio takeover in December, Wrtteveen decided to step down from his role with Aprilia - leaving him free to talk about the RS3 MotoGP racer he left behind. "Going racing in MotoGP with a three-cylinder bike was a big mistake," he's admitted in an interview with French weekly Moto Revue. "The RS3 started working properly last year, but by then it was too late. Personally, I wanted us to go racing with a V-twin, which would have allowed us to take advantage of our experience in superbike racing, where the RSV I000 was already a winning bike. But my suggestions were ignored, even if it would have avoided us ending up paying Cosworth a fortune for the engine design [and thus, by of the event. make its MotoGP debut at Brno in August. But nothing is fixed yet, and Witteveen is known to also have offers to go to work in the USA in the Indyear series. [Colin] Edwards and [Noriyuki] Haga, especially at a time when we knew the bike had no chance of winning. It landed us in the shit. We ended up another friend is working on the Blata V-six motor due to Alan Cathcart having less and less money, and more and more pressure to start getting results. "1.= year, I had to juggle with suppliers who weren't getting paid, and a race team with fewer engineers every race," he continured. "When Piaggio came in and took over, I waited to see what would happen, but once I saw that nobody had any idea what to do, I preferred to leave. So I did!" Today, Witteveen - whose family home is in Austria admits that he's talking to KTM about coming on board to give his friend Harald Bartol a hand in developing the new KTM 250 tandem-twin, which Anthony West is due to debut A failure in MotoGP, Aprilia's RS3 Cube may find future redemption as a superbike platform.