UK Orders

Kingfixer said:

My S version has been delivered this morning, just been up to have a drool over it ...woohooo

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dave said:

Really jealous of all you S buyers taking delivery these days...excited for you obviously, but jealous nonetheless!

My UK dealer seems to have gone quiet on when he'll be getting my base ABS in, despite saying it is still listed as a "March build".

Has anyone out there heard anything remotely concrete on UK base builds/deliveries?

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big rocky said:

all i have heard was should of had bike by easter now poss end of next week but i doubt it will happen i have ordered base and abs too

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bolds said:

Was told earlier in the week that 110 STD ABS bikes were being shipped to UK in April dont know what amount will be in what shipments and would have thought some will land early may if shipped end of april.
possibly mine being shipped sometime next week

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Chuck said:

The S models being delivered were February builds (Ducati made 250 for homologation on 3/1). They could have delivered them weeks ago, but it looks better to prospective buyers to see a warehouse full of bikes ready for delivery than to see empty space. While it is possible that some base models were built in March, it's not likely that they were made in any large numbers. Producation has been abysmally slow and certainly Ducati has lost sales due to a very late model introduction. Ducati will be discussing bridge financing for work-in-progress (our Panigales) soon, THEN production can begin in earnest. I keep laughing every time someone says "I just picked up my bike" and everyone asks "oh, which model did you get?" Answer: the only frickin' one they've made, with the VERY rare exception of one of 2 Tricolores. As I've said, InvestIndustrial does not want to put up any more cash...they made the decision to maximize orders based on delivering bikes they had already made (i.e. HAD to make for homologation), but think about it...if you were selling the company, would you give a rat's tail about putting in even more money, much less delivering bikes? They got what they wanted...our orders.

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CHarles foxtrot said:

So how does Audi's due diligence come into play? Do you think that they'd pay less or more for a company that was being left to wither and die on the vine by its owners?

Or do you have inside info that Audi does not have and will not get?

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Chuck said:

Audi has access to their financial data. That said, InvestIndustrial claimed that Ducati only had 200MM in debt...umm, no, not even close. So the discussed number was 750MM covering the supposed 200MM in debt. lol That deal would result in a loss of hundreds of millions in loss based on Ducati's actual debt. Still, InvestIndustrial doesn't want to put in ANY more money, so it's either accept the only offer they are likely going to get at a time when they are at a 10+ on the hype meter or suck it up and keep losing money. There's no free lunch in the M&A game and Ducati has had poor financial performance since 2005. InvestIndustrial cannot realistically expect some fool with deep pockets to just come along and bail them out whilst also giving them a nice hefty gain. Many people are stupid but not all are that stupid.

InvestIndustrial wants out...plain and simple. Ducati is a great motorcycle brand, but as a financial investment it's a dog with fleas. It's no surprise why the Panigales are well behind schedule both in terms of production and delivery and it has nothing to do with snow or delays at the customs dock, which was a good line that has been fed. Well before the snow production was already weeks behind. I won't even get into how silly the acid battery delay excuse is. As I've said before, I don't fault InvestIndustrial for selling.

As for due diligence, yes, it looks better if the factory has a lot of product ready to be shipped. Ducati could have shipped the S model bikes long ago, but didn't. Production has been slow...very slow. Why do you think? umm, selling company + not wanting to invest another euro = slow production hence slow delivery. The delays are not good for sales (many orders have been cancelled and dealers aren't too happy with the delay in sales either) nor for the new buyers, but if you were InvestIndustrial and losing every time you put in more money, would you be interested in continuing to do so?

The best we can all hope for is that this deal goes through, but it won't be for the amount that InvestIndustrial was seeking (not even close). Second, IF the deal does proceed, Audi will have to pony up with prelim bridge cash. Few banks would be stupid enough to extend even more debt financing without a deeper pocket on the hook.

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JONAH said:

End of April delivery of the base ABS, according to a dealer today, he had just come back from the training course.

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