What happened on the corporate vessel of Italian Sea Group unbeknownst to the helmsman at the helm will probably only be known at the outcome of the proceedings following the complaint by CEO Giovanni Costantino (in the photo) against former executives who, according to him, provided the company’s top management with accounting and management information that did not correspond to reality, fraudulently bypassing the internal order control system. What is certain is that something very serious happened in the middle of the crossing and now the engines are stalled: a crisis vividly illustrated by the fact that in the very recent period the chairman Filippo Menchelli and his deputy, Marco Carniani, have already stepped off the vessel, followed by another board member, Laura Angela Tadin.
TURBULENT STOCK WATERS FOR ITALIAN SEA GROUP
In recent days as already reported Italian Sea Group has resolved to exit the Star segment, to remain in Euronext Milan, and now the maxi-yacht producer with the brands Admiral, Tecnomar, and Perini Navi has submitted a request to access the negotiated composition of the crisis, that is, the out-of-court procedure aimed at rescuing the company through the appointment of an independent expert nominated by the Florence Chamber of Commerce.
The expert in question is Enrico Terzani, president of the Florence Order of Accountants. At the mere announcement, understandably, the Tisg stock – which has been struggling since the tragedy of the Bayesian, a sailing yacht sunk in Palermo waters during a nighttime storm built by the former management of Perini Navi, part of Italian Sea Group’s portfolio since 2022 (which has always claimed to be unrelated to the tragedy) – lost more than 40% and was suspended from trading. In the last 5 years, the stock has lost over 80 percent of its value.
WHO LEADS THE GROUP NOW
The decision of chairman Menchelli, vice chairman Carniani, and the board member to abandon the ship also entailed the need to revise the team at the helm: the presidency was assumed by Costantino himself, who is also CEO and majority shareholder and who on February 20, just as the crisis broke out, injected 25 million euros into the company as shareholder financing through his GC Holding and then entrusted Kpmg with an audit on the management of contracts, while the new board member, non-independent and non-executive, is lawyer Pietro Smeriglio.
THE SHIELD FROM CREDITORS TO TRY TO RESTART
The company has requested the application of protective measures for the assets against all creditors. These measures must now be confirmed by the Florence Court and will freeze the possibility for creditors to initiate enforcement and precautionary actions on company assets, as this would obviously make recovery impossible. The negotiated composition – the company emphasizes – constitutes “a tool aimed at ensuring business continuity and promoting the recovery of the company that finds itself in economic-financial imbalance, through a dialogue process with the main creditors and stakeholders, with the assistance of an independent expert.”
IS DEL VECCHIO JR WAITING FOR HIS MOMENT?
The challenges facing the shipyard are three, Il Sole24Ore highlights today: “to restructure the debt with banks again, after in June 2025 Unicredit, Deutsche Bank, Mps, and Intesa Sanpaolo had carried out a similar operation granting a loan of 115 million euros; to renegotiate supplier payments, in terms of timing and amounts; to renegotiate with shipowners the last two contracts signed for boat construction, because according to the company they were closed at a loss.”
The Group, burdened by a net financial debt of 70.6 million and characterized at least so far by an opaque managerial management as seen, according to rumors has entered the radar of Leonardo Del Vecchio Jr, described as waiting for the most opportune moment to launch a possible indispensable lifeline for The Italian Sea Group.
