Yesterday’s public bankruptcy auction in Bologna to acquire Moto Morini and put it back into business went down another black hole, with no offers being made.

The Italian motorcycle manufacturer first went into voluntary liquidation, with Paolo Berlusconi offering to buy the company out, but that was nixed by the trade unions and then a Canadian consortium seemed interested, but that panned out to nothing, as did the interest of Thomas Bleiner, a green energy entrepeneur.

The company will go back under the hammer this summer, and according to Italy’s newspaper La Republica, there are still three groups (two foreign and one Italian) interested in acquiring the company, but were unable to find the funds necessary to put in a bid in time for the auction.

But this could be the usual move, waiting for bankruptcy administrator to lower the initial bidding in a desperate move to sell off all the remaining assets as soon as possible to pay off all the outstanding debts, so they can take home the iconic marque with a lot less euros to dish out.

Source | motoblog.it

....

0 comments

The death of Moto Morini and has reached its final stage. The entire company will be going under the hammer on April 13th.

The auction organized by the court of Bologna inclues the following assets; the Moto Morini marque, drawings, projects, all production and assembly equipment, office equipment, furniture, company cars, components, engines, parts, accessories, clothing, packaging, exempt from the sale will be the finished bikes, both new and used that have been sold during this last year of voluntary liquidation to pay for some of the company’s debts.

The entire plant building located at Casalecchio del Reno is included in the auction, with bidding starting at € 5.500.000,00, but in the event that their are no offers for the entire lot with the property, bids will start € 2,600 .000,00 which will include two years of free use of the buildings.

Hopefully some buyer or consortium will now decide to buy out at these bargain basement prices and decide to put this historic marque back on its feet.

Source | motoblog.it

....

0 comments

Italian motorcycle manufacturer Moto Morini is even closer to the verge of going out of business after labour unions rejected Nuova Garelli’s (owned by Paolo Berlusconi, brother of Italian PM) buyout plan.

Berlusconi original offer was around € 2.8-2.9 million with a three year plan (2011-2013) that included keeping 20 of the original workers, an additional of € 250 on redundacy payments and pick up Moto Morini’s debt in regards to the workers severance pay and leasing the current factory for the next six years where Garelli was planning to have their XO scooter range assembled and tested at the Morini factory.

It’s expected Berlusconi will make another offer in the coming weeks.

Source | motoblog.it

....

0 comments

Paolo Berlusconi who already owns Garelli and is the brother of Italy’s PM Silvio Berlusconi, has veered his rumored interest from MV Agusta to Moto Morini, another iconic Italian motorcyle company.

With a bid of 2.9 million euros, the Italian manager is in pole position against a consortium of Canadian buyers to buy out the marque, thus avoiding that the company, who has much of it’s long history in Italian road racing (including Giacomo Agostini’s first victory) falling into foreign hands.

Moto Morini is at the present in voluntary liquidation, so the bid will have to go through the usual and complex procedures that includes debtor courts and worker unions, but at least two offers for the Casalecchio di Reno based company is better than being closed down definitely.

Source | motociclismo.it via motoblog

....

0 comments

Moto Morini must have received dozens of phone calls today asking them if they actually shut down production after thatFrench website motorevue revealed that the company had closed down.

Our Italian cousins over at Motoblog and English website MCN have both talked to the people over at Moto Morini, who have confirmed that there is no change from the previous financial situation and they are still searching for a buyer, but the company is still operating even if at a reduced capacity.

Seventy people are employed at Moto Morini and only female workers assemble the 200 to 300 odd bikes that the company produces each year.

Source | panorama

....

0 comments

According to French website motorevue, Moto Morini has stopped production and facilities at Casalecchio di Reno have closed down.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for us) today is a holiday here in Italy and many companies have taken a long holiday weekend and we cannot officially confirm the news that Moto Marini has truly stopped production.

In September, the Italian marque announced that they had gone in what is called voluntary liquidation, and was selling off some of their assets in order to continue working and make the company more attractive for eventual buyers and investors.

Despite financial problems, Moto Morini debuted their new 2010 Granferro 1200, a restyling of the Granpasso 1200 SM at the EICMA show.

More news when we get it.

Source | asphaltandrubber

....

0 comments

Moto Morini is continuing its development of its brand, and after the arrival of the Granpasso 1200 at the beginning of the year, the company has waited for Eicma to present other new models, this time with the Moto Morini Scrambler.

Departing from the technical basis of the 9½, some revolutionary changes were then made to reach what is the essence of a srambler model - eclectic, agile and easy to ride. A scrambler should be two wheels to move around on both on and off asphalt, and the Moto Morini version includes a 19-inch rear wheel just for this purpose.

Continue reading: Eicma 2008: Moto Morini Scrambler

....

0 comments

There’s nothing like Italy for valleys and mountains - and sports club meets to have some fun. In September, in the Valle del Pompone, eight Moto Morini bikes turned up to try the hairpin bends of the Pedemontana in an exclusive test from the Motoclub Pompone.

The Morini range was there in all its glory, including the Sport, the Corsaro and the Avio. But the queen of the test models available was the Granpasso, who was out for half an hour in the splendid mountain range.

Nearly a hundred riders participated in the event, well organised by the Morini team with some wonderful views, an Italian bike and a couple of restored vintage Morini’s on show.

Continue reading: Moto Morini road test from Motoclub Pompone

....

0 comments