VOL. 54 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 14, 2017 P89
M
V Agusta's President/
CEO Giovanni Casti-
glioni, 36, is the only
son of his late father Claudio,
the man whose love affair with
the Italian trophy brand was such
that he sold and repurchased it
no less than three times in the
space of 20 years! In the months
leading up to his father's sad
passing in August 2011, Giovanni
Castiglioni took over the reins of
the company. Since then he's
worked to restore MV to what
many see as its proper place as
the Ferrari of motorcycles—start-
ing with the introduction to the
marketplace of the three-cylinder
675cc F3 and Brutale, which his
father had played such a key role
in creating, and the subsequent
range of models powered by
the acclaimed 800cc version of
MV's three-cylinder motor. This
has yielded a series of ultra-
distinctive bikes like the Brutale,
Rivale, Stradale, Dragster and
Turismo Veloce, while in 2014
MV Agusta finally returned to the
racetrack with its own factory
race team, with French rider
Jules Cluzel spearheading an
assault on the World Supersport
Championship on his MV Agusta
F3 675 triple, and Britain's Leon
Camier racing a four-cylinder
MV Agusta F4RR in the World
Superbike series.
This commercial and sporting
success led to speculation that
MV Agusta would be a take-
over target for one of the major
motorcycle manufacturers, or
at various times a juicy prize for
Russian/Chinese/Indian/Arab
investors. In the end, it turned
out to be none of the above,
when it was announced in Oc-
tober 2014 that Mercedes-Benz
would be acquiring a 25% stake
in the Italian motorcycle compa-
ny, under its performance brand
AMG. However, while this seem-
ingly initially brought positive
results, with MV Agusta's annual
turnover exceeding 100 million
euro for the first time in 2015,
the company found itself strug-
gling early in 2016, seemingly
with cash flow problems which
forced it to stop production while
it sought to restructure itself.
Then on November 18 last year it
was announced that Castiglioni
was recapitalizing MV Agusta by
selling part of the company to
an outside investment company
named Black Ocean Group.
The chance to quiz Giovanni
Castiglioni directly on how this
transpired, and his plans for
turning the company around,
came in his office in MV Agusta's
lakeside factory at Schiranna on
the outskirts of Varese.
Happy Ending?
Our exclusive one-
on-one interview with
MV Agusta President
Giovanni Castiglioni,
specifically confirming
for the first time on the
record that he has sold
35% of MV Agusta's
holding company to
the Anglo-Russian
investment company
Black Ocean Group.
Castiglioni explains the
background to this deal,
and its impact on AMG
Mercedes-Benz's 25%
equity in MV Agusta
BY ALAN CATHCART
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEL EDGE
