Tuesday 15 June CIN, the Italian shipping company, which belongs to the Onorato group, presented the definitive proposal for an arrangement with creditors to try to restore the company and avoid bankruptcy. The same request was also filed on Tuesday for Moby, another large shipping company of the Onorato group. The judges will have to decide whether to admit the two proposals: in case of approval, a long procedure will start to satisfy the creditors, avoid bankruptcy, continue to navigate and save the employment of six thousand employees.
The presentation of the two requests for an arrangement almost simultaneously is only one stage in a long and complex affair that also involves another company, Tirrenia, purchased by CIN in 2012 following the privatization decided by the state. From healthy companies, with familiar names to many people who for decades have boarded their ships to reach the Italian islands, in recent years Moby and Tirrenia have become a huge problem for Vincenzo Onorato, one of the most famous Italian shipowners.
One of the most important moments of this story, and which still affects the compromised economic conditions of the shipping companies, is the privatization of Tirrenia which took place in 2012. After years of ruinous management, in 2008 the government led by Silvio Berlusconi Start the procedure for divesting the state shareholding in the historic company: after an initial tender which ended unsuccessfully in 2010, the company was placed under extraordinary administration, scheduled for the industrial restructuring of large companies in a state of insolvency.
Subsequently, a second tender was launched for privatization, closed in May 2011, and the winner was CIN, the Italian shipping company, a new company consisting of three leading names in the sector: Marinvest by Gianluigi Aponte, Moby by Vincenzo Onorato and Emanuele Grimaldi of Grimaldi Lines.
(Ansa / Massimo Stancanelli)
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At the time of privatization, Tirrenia had debts for 520 million euros and CIN managed to buy it for 380 million euros. On the sale intervened however the European Antitrust, which took over a dominant position due to the high market share held by the three shipowners. Aponte and Grimaldi left the company, which became 40% owned by Moby, 30% by the Clessidra fund, 20% by GIP, Port Investments Group, and 10% by the entrepreneur Francesco Izzo.
Of the 380 million euros needed to acquire the business from the extraordinary administration, 200 were paid at the closing of the transaction, while the remaining 180 million would have to be paid in three installments: 55 million in April 2016, 60 million by April 2019 and 65 million by April 2021.
In July 2015 Honored completed the acquisition of CIN liquidating the shareholders with 100 million euros: 80 million went to the Clessidra fund and the remaining 20 million to the two minor shareholders. In 2016 the Onorato group, at that point owner of Moby and Tirrenia, closed a refinancing operation for a total of € 560 million: € 300 million with the issue of a bond, bond loan maturing in 2023 and coupon at 7.75%; 200 million through a loan, maturing in 2021, from a banking pool (Unicredit, Banco Popolare and Banca Imi); and another 60 million through a line of credit.
Come he wrote Carlo Festa on the Sole 24 Ore, «At that time the Onorato company could have financed the entire architecture of the operation with other financial instruments, but instead it was decided to issue a mega-bond, which today weighs like a boulder on the group. The objective, at that time, was also to compete with the Grimaldi group on some routes, a move which, however, combined with financial mistakes has led to the current situation ».
These efforts were also justified by the “territorial continuity”, An economic support to transport companies to facilitate the movement of people who live on the islands and who can buy tickets at a lower price thanks to funds made available by the state. With the privatization of Tirrenia, 72 million euros a year were guaranteed for eight years, from 2012 to 2020. Despite these funds and an initial reorganization of the routes, Tirrenia’s accounts have never improved. The economic crisis, with the increase in the price of fuel, and the effects of the epidemic have not helped the company to resolve an already rather compromised situation.
In July 2020 Moby and CIN they appealed to the bankruptcy law by submitting a request for a “blanket arrangement” to the court of Milan. With the arrangement in blank, a company expresses its intention to restructure its debt and not to go bankrupt by presenting a plan to be submitted to creditors within six months. Upon expiry, however, CIN did not submit any plan and on April 15, 2021 the Milan prosecutor’s office he asked the bankruptcy indicating a liability of the company of approximately 200 million and overdue debts of approximately 350-400 million, of which 180 to the extraordinary administration.
(Giuseppe Caruana / LaPresse)
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At the end of May it was known that CIN would ask for the arrangement to avoid bankruptcy, presented this week in its final form. On May 6, the court then granted a postponement to allow the company time to find a debt restructuring agreement with the special administration commissioners to recover the 180 million. The agreement, which seemed close, then fell through.
But the attempts of the commissioners to recover the credits continued: at the beginning of June they quoted the Onorato group sued because they claim that CIN is in a state of financial distress due to Moby. In the act with which the case was presented, the commissioners argue that the Onorato group has introduced commercial agreements between CIN and Moby totally biased in favor of the latter.
The accounts are complex, like the whole affair: at 31 December 2019, CIN had receivables from Moby for 128 million euros, of which 90.9 million for collection of tickets not transferred to CIN. At the same date, the Moby financial statements show that the latter had a receivable from CIN of € 58.8 million, of which € 38.8 million for motorboat rental and € 20 million for unspecified reasons. The balance within the group is therefore 70 million euros in favor of CIN with respect to Moby.
Come rebuilt from the Sole 24 Ore Radiocor, the commissioners of the extraordinary administration intervened – as creditors of CIN, which in turn is a creditor of Moby – to obtain the 70 million euros. As permitted by law, the commissioners moved in place of CIN to demand that Moby pay his debt, which would make it easier for the special administration to repay its $ 180 million credit.
Despite this situation of serious instability, the maritime connection lines continue to function and have been strengthened for the summer. In recent months, the unions have repeatedly expressed concern for the six thousand employees and asked the government for a confrontation to ask for “certainty about the future employment levels of CIN workers”. “We do not venture into legal matters: we only ask for an effective service for citizens and tourists and guarantees for employment”, explains Salvatore Pellecchia, general secretary of Fit Cisl. “Among the many things it should not be forgotten also in terms of contracts because even in a reorganization plan rights cannot be reduced and the safety of workers and people at risk”.
Moby is also at the heart of another court case concerning funding for politics. In April the prosecutor’s office opened a file for information purposes, without suspects or hypotheses of crime, to verify the regularity of money transfers that took place from 2015 to 2020 by Moby to Beppe Grillo srl, Casaleggio Associati, Giovanni Toti’s Change foundation, Matteo Renzi’s Open foundation, Brothers of Italy and PD.
Come he wrote l’Ansa, ranging from 200 thousand euros paid to Beppe Grillo srl for a contract that runs from March 2018 to March 2020 “aimed at acquiring advertising visibility for their brand on the blog” of the comedian-politician, to 600 thousand for two years for Casaleggio Associated to “raise awareness of the institutions on the issue of seafarers” and “to reach a reference community of 1 million people”. There are also 200 thousand euros to the Matteo Renzi “supporter” Open Foundation and 100 thousand euros to the Change Committee linked to the president of Liguria Giovanni Toti, 90 thousand to the Democratic Party and 10 thousand euros to the Brothers of Italy.
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