Riding the next wave...

Airship,
Okay I'll bite and try to give some reasoning to one of your questions.
You asked "For starters, could someone here explain the thinking/strategy behind a company like the Ferretti Group, originally privately-owned, going public, then going back to being privately-owned and shortly afterwards, perhaps later this year or in 2007 according to the quoted news report, going back to being a publicly-quoted company?"

One main reason a company goes public is for cash resources. You sell shares in your company and get an influx of money. That money helps you build better products, garnering more income. You see the value in the product, or want to improve your earnings per share ratio, so you start buying back your stock and go private again, to keep the profits for you and not have to share them with shareholders. Norberto Ferretti may be a boatbuilder, but he is more so a businessman. He could be making widgets or model-T's, doesn't make a difference. He is a good businessman. When he goes public again, he may be looking for another shot of cash for his next best thing (going public rather than taking on rich partners). See the cycle. And look, he has surrounded himself with some of the best yacht lines in the business.
BTW, I'm no financial wiz, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. LoL
Capt Tom

it. yachtind. developement

if you want to understand market figures of one company - in which status ever you just can recognize it - you must see the whole market.

Perhaps there evolved some not so public working rules, because of the big
changes in the italian politics. It is conceivable that a lot of it. CEOs tried to break their way free in a similar way their former president did it - if the media were right with their reports. That's impossibile to judge from outside.

But there are several changes on other relevant companies, too! In the magazins of the last month i saw advertises of Camper & Nicholsons that now is a part of the Rodriguez Group, based in Italy. Looking on their webside they are calling themselve "the worldleaders in luxury yachting". Their brands are growing, their range is wide.
So perhaps there's at least one race running. Looking at the other big shipyards there, perhaps some more.
All in all (to follow the media) it looks as if you will get the boat you want when you put your money in a bag, fly to Bella Italia and travel down the coasts, who ever will build the vessel at the end.

... and for me as a northern european the designs from there sometimes are very nice and great to watch.

TS
TSOE.com

If I was investing, I would stay clear of the Italian boat building business. I believe that in the next 5 years (I used to say 10) that the Italian product will be non existant in the states. I do not think that they will be able to compete on a price point with the Chinese/Tiawan products that are now coming out.

From first hand experience I have seen a pull back allready in the sales of thier product here in the US. Marinemax has all but stopped ordering any large Ferretti's for stock boats and ARBMG is still sitting on at least 4, they had 5 but the owner of the Company recently bought one.
Do the rough numbers-

112 Westport +- 8.5 mil.
116 Azimut +- 12 mil
100 Hargrave +- 6 mil

At these price differences the europeans are going to be killed on this side of the pond. I would be very nervous if I was a dealer for Italian/european product in the US.

Actually we are, most recently with Microsoft making a HUGE stock buyback, and I do believe that automotive companies sell and buy back their own stock frequently as well.
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+plans+massive+stock+buyback/2100-1014_3-6096631.html
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/02/041702.asp

Referring to China as a viable Boat builder, they are "here and now", based on a list of the "Top Ten Building Nations", China ranks #6 with Italy as #1. USA #2

What a great thread here with a lot of food for thought.
I would posit, airship, that there are growing stormclouds here in the U.S. which will not bode well for it's trading partners either. As the consumer-driven economy falls off, and U.S. GDP falls to 3 or less by Q4, boatbuilders will certainly take it on the chin.

The oldtimers who witnessed Chris-Craft's ( among others) rise&fall and rise&fall are aware of one of boatbuilding's major axioms: Growth Kills.

The small, family-owned builders ( all the Jersey guys, for example) have traditionally battened down their hatches in the face of economic ill winds and survived through numerous downturns.

The companies that do go public need pretty impressive numbers in which to separate the suckers, er, potential shareholders from their largesse. Gotta build those boats and put 'em in some dealers inventory.

A caveat here, though: I don't claim to know what the newly-minted yachtsmen/yachtswomen have in mind when/if the fertilizer hits the horizontal ventilator. Heck, it takes a few years to do a megayacht anyway.

But I think for the sub-hundred-foot builders, now is the time, as hunters are wont to say, to husband one's resources.

But in reality, there is more money to burn on things like Yachts than ever before, the Millionaire and Billionaire list is growing very rapidly on a daily basis with a lot of people looking for things to amuse themselves with, there has never been such unprecedented wealth as at the present, and this is not counting all the millions of people that are sitting on personal real estate fortunes without cashing it in and touring the world on their yacht.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/19/pf/millionaire_spectrem/index.htm

Amen to that, outmywindow, amen.
In further support of your thinking, it seems that following an economic downturn, the yact biz just seems to get ever stronger. Got my fingers crossed!

So True, the "wealth index" doesn't lie. If the Yacht Industry suffers because of an economic downturn, it's not due to lack of able clients, but perhaps a lack of; yachting interest, moral/environmental issues, or savvy yachtsmen that are waiting for the economic downturn to force yacht prices down before purchasing.