Bertone sale undone by Italian court
Just three weeks ago it was reported that Bertone company head and family heir Lili Bertone had concluded a deal to sell the money-losing company to Domenico Reviglio of Gruppo Prototipo. A court in Turin, Italy, the home of both companies, has canceled the sale saying that Lili attempted to sign over more of Bertone than she had a right to. Lili Bertone signed over 65-percent of Carrozzeria Bertone and 100-percent of stylist Stile Bertone to Reviglio, in exchange for 35-percent of a new Reviglio-controlled company called Keplero, which would own both Bertone companies. The problem is, Lili Bertone only owns 20-percent of the Carrozzeria. The other 45-percent is owned by the Bertone family, which includes Lili's daughters Barbara and Marie Jeanne, who are the ones who sued to stop the sale.
We have no idea why the daughters would sue to stop the sale of a company that was headed for oblivion. It's possible that, with Lili selling the company without their consent, they likewise weren't represented as proper shareholders in the new deal, but again, that is complete speculation. What we do know is that we hope Bertone gets itself sorted out before it goes away for good. Bertone and Reviglio have ten days to appeal.
[Source: Automotive News - sub req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cesare Consaga 11:00AM (1/30/2008)
What a shame. There's over a hundred years of automotive history here. In this day of cookie cutter, corporate stamped products, something should be done to save one of the last remaining coach houses.
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