Top 10 stories of the week

Last quarter of 2019 has brought several news from the stock exchange in the yachting industry. One of the leading Italian yacht builders, Sanlorenzo, has gone public on the Borsa Italiana on track with earlier plans. Their compatriot competitors, the Ferretti Group, meanwhile earlier abandoned the course. Yacht Harbour takes a closer look at the situation.Sanlorenzo entered the stock exchange on December 10 successfully and spent the first day of trading starting from €16 per share, according to the plans they had intended. The initial pricing meanwhile is set to bring total market capitalisation to €552 million, meaning the €72 million capital increase for Sanlorenzo.However, although the stock traded at or slightly above the IPO offer price for much of the week, it sank on Thursday to close at €15.42. According to GlobalCapital, liquidity was very low even by Thursday, with only 1.5% of the free float traded on the day. Nonetheless, in regards of the difficult market backdrop towards IPOs of the small and mid-size companies, the situation can be considered positive. Noteworthy, only one third of investors interested in 35% of the shipyard’ listed capitals, come from Italy.The offering consists of 4.5 million newly-issued shares resulting from a capital increase and 7.6 million shares offered for sale by Happy Life Srl. The latter is the company’s major shareholder, also controlled by Sanlorenzo executive chairman Massimo Perotti.Perrotti commented:Today we have reached an important objective, and we are very proud of this achievement. […] Listing on the stock exchange represents a fundamental step for Sanlorenzo, and a new starting point for growth and development on international markets.Another yachting industry representative, major US retailer OneWater Marine specialising in boats sale and maintenance of boats, filed for an IPO July 12 this year. The company owns and operates 60 stores in the United States.Founded in 2014, they reported $719 million in FY2019. On October 15, OneWater Marine announced the terms of its IPO. They were planning to raise $60 million by offering 3.2 million shares at prices ranging from $18 to $20. However, the group decided to postpone its IPO.Returning to the European market, another key player and competitor of Sanlorenzo, the Ferretti Group, not only postponed but even withdrew from the public listing 30% of the company’s shares due to insufficient valuation.Ferretti saw lowering of its indicative price range for shares from the initial target of €2.50 to €3.70 per share to only between €2.00 and €2.50. That said, it would have meant a market valuation of € 581 million instead of aimed €1.08 billion. Under the new prospective, Alberto Galassi, CEO of the company, said in 2020 a share of about 30% might be sold to some new investor from Europe, reported Reuters.

Italian yacht builder Baglietto has announced the sale of the 48-metre T-Line, hull no. 10233 to a South American Owner. Along with her sisterships Andiamo and Silver Fox, Project no. 10233 represents a flagship model of the Baglietto T-Line.Designer Francesco Paszkowski and the yacht’s experienced owner worked closely together on adding stylistic and functional improvements to the project.The vessel features a steel hull and aluminium superstructure. She offers spacious outside areas that include a vast 140-square-metre sun deck. The stern has a swimming pool with tanning beds, complementing the roll-bar and lunch area with a coffee-bar, barbecue grill, and refrigerator. The zone also connects directly to the galley thanks to a dumb waiter. Compared to her two sisterships, this model has a different layout on the upper deck, offering more space to the sky lounge and extending outside with a semi-circular window. This layout allows for a winter garden that houses a comfortable dining table for 12 guests. As per the Owner’s request meanwhile, a crystal lift connects the decks, including the sun deck.Large, full-height windows with no obstructions both on the upper deck and the main deck bring a lot of natural light inside. Another exciting feature is the lower deck’s layout, which includes two large double cabins that can be transformed into four doubles thanks to a sliding partition wall. Finally, the aft 46-square-meter beach area includes a relaxation space and a spa with fully-equipped gym and steam bath. The tenders and two jet skis are found at the bow.The yacht can easily cruise at a maximum speed of 15 knots and 12 knots of cruising speed.Currently under construction at the shipyard in La Spezia with the supervision of Camper & Nicholsons, the yacht is planned for summer 2021 delivery. Noteworthy, Baglietto has recently launched its current flagship superyacht, the 55-metre Severin°. The yard has also revealed the Francesco Paszkowski Design of its new 65-metre superyacht V-Line during the Monaco Yacht Show 2019.

Wally has announced the forthcoming launch of a 48-foot (approx. 14.6-metre) high-performance open tender at Miami Yacht Show in February 2020. A modified sistership of 48 Wallytender model, the 48 Wallytender X has already demonstrated high speeds of 55 knots during preliminary sea trials.Stefano de Vivo, Managing Director of Wally, comments:As a hotspot for the outboard yachting lifestyle, Florida is the perfect place to unveil this exciting new model. With four 450hp outboard racing engines primed to unleash astounding speeds, the 48 Wallytender X will undoubtedly turn heads and be the perfect match for anyone who loves high-performance boats.In comparison to 48 Wallytender that made her international debut this autumn, Wally with Ferretti Group have reviewed a number of propulsion options for its new outboard model. They selected Mercury’s 450hp Verado R engines, with good power-to-weight ratio. The combination with a light carbon fibre construction designed in-house at Wally and Ferretti, allows for high top speeds and very low consumptions under extended range. Preliminary sea trials have indicated maximum speeds over 55 knots and a cruising speed of 40 knots with a range of 320 nautical miles.The builder hopes, that high performance would ‘ideally complement the fast-paced boating way of life favoured by many Florida-based selective owners’. Alongside the performance advantages of outboard engines, the 48 Wallytender X features reduced noise and vibration.In addition, with tilting outboards, the effective draft of the 48 Wallytender X can be reduced to 70cm at full load when the engines are lifted.The vessel comes with a spacious suite on the lower deck featuring carbon fibre decking with teak furniture and panels, conceived for cruising in comfort. The deck layout also comprises generous seating, sunbeds and alfresco dining catered to by the well-equipped galley unit and side-opening bulwarks.With the engines repositioned outside the hull, space is freed up for storage, allowing the 48 Wallytender X feature user-friendly joystick controls for easy docking.Another important feature of 48 Wallytender X is retractable hydraulic boarding passerelle/swim ladder. With the four engines split to the flanks of the boat enabling the ladder installation, it can provide direct and easy access to the water or the shore.Luca Bassani, Wally founder, expressed: We are very proud of what we have achieved in this new outboard version of the 48 Wallytender. We have been able to maintain its strong aesthetic identity and the many practical features found on the inboard model, perfectly packaged to serve the needs of clients who prefer the outboard experience in their boating lifestyle, including top speeds and high levels of performance.Founded in 1994 by passionate yachtsman Luca Bassani, Wally became part of Italian Ferretti Group in 2019. Recently, Ferretti Group abandoned the idea of trading on the stock exchange due to unsatisfactory results of the public offering period earlier this year.

The recently launched 77-metre Feadship Syzygy 818 has been renamed Pi. With her charter previously managed by KK Superyachts, it has not been revealed yet, whether the vessel has switched owners or has been listed for sale.The latest Feadship superyacht delivery, Pi made her international debut at the Monaco Yacht Show 2019, after successful sea trials in the North Sea. Still, little information has been revealed on the yard's second largest vessel. It is known, that she features naval architecture by Feadship De Voogt, exterior design by Jamsen and interiors by Sinot Yacht Design.With the yacht initially known as Project 818, the 818 in the name stood for"prosperous" in Chinese numerology, and mirrored the owner's birthday on August 18, revealed the yard. The word "syzygy" meanwhile came from astrology, referring to a rare event in which three or more celestial bodies line up, such as a new moon or lunar eclipse.With a beam of 11 metres, Pi boasts a steel hull and aluminium superstructure and boasts double-curvature glass windows drawing plenty of light inside. With impressive interior volume of 1,592 GT, the superyacht can sleep up to 12 guests and 18 crew members on-board.Techno wise, Pi is capable of a maximum speed of 18.4 knots, thanks to twin MTU 16V 4000 M63 engines.

After the meeting between the President The European Committee for Professional Yachting and the Directorate of Tax Legislation, it has been confirmed that VAT reductions on charters earlier practiced in Italy, France, Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia, would no longer apply in 2020.Earlier, it was possible to reduce VAT on charter services by means of a short-term charter in international waters. The European commission had to ask the above-listed countries to modify their tax practice starting from from January 1st, 2020. The policy aims at unifying conditions and terms for VAT benefits application throughout Europe. Up to now, Italy, France, Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia have been practicing tax benefits upon going in international waters during charter period. Starting from 2020, VAT discounts will be applied only in proportion to the time or the distance a yacht would take outside the European waters.Noteworthy, in summer 2019, the EU Commission warned Italy and Cyprus that it would take further steps to end illegal tax breaks in the yacht industries on their territories, first brought to light in the Paradise Papers leaks.