Piero Ferrari has resigned with immediate effect from his position as Vice Chairman and board member of Ferretti Group. The decision came on the eve of the shareholders' meeting called for 14 May to renew the Board of Directors, and took the form of an open letter addressed to the board members and statutory auditors of the company.
The assembly sees two competing slates: one linked to Weichai, the Chinese reference shareholder of the group, and the other from Kkcg Maritime, the company of Czech billionaire Karel Komarek, which acquired the shares previously held by Ferrari himself and intends to reappoint Alberto Galassi, Ferrari's son-in-law, as CEO.
Behind the dispute lie recent share purchases that remained below the 3% threshold, the level that triggers mandatory disclosure to Consob, Italy's financial markets regulator. According to Kkcg Maritime, these purchases are attributable to Weichai.
In his letter, Ferrari wrote:
"After many years of service at Ferretti S.p.A., I hereby resign from my position as Vice Chairman and member of the Board of Directors, with immediate effect.
In communicating my resignation, I cannot refrain from expressing to this Board and to the Statutory Auditors my frustration and disappointment at what I have been able to observe in recent weeks.
In particular, I wish to underline that, following a crucial decision by shareholders to renew the board -- taken appropriately for a listed company through a proxy solicitation, as it should be for companies committed to preserving their integrity on the basis of professional capabilities, plans and future strategies -- various entities aligned with one faction appear to have adopted a strategy aimed at obstructing such substantive discussion and voting.
This is all the more frustrating as such acquisitions were carried out in a manner that appears to be below all existing regulatory thresholds. In addition, I have also witnessed a certain arrogance throughout the entire takeover bid process that has prevented a neutral assessment of the matter.
All of the above has put this company in the spotlight, attracting the interest of the press and regulatory authorities, including the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, who may question the legitimacy of certain recent acquisitions by foreign entities and their compliance with applicable law.
The ultimate consequence of what I have summarised above is that, given the current circumstances, I can no longer associate my name and the legacy it represents for Italian industry with this company."