Electric motorbike manufacturer Energica is bankrupt
According to Energica, the company’s Board of Directors has decided to initiate judicial insolvency proceedings under Art. 121 et seq. of the Italian Insolvency Code.
“Despite the efforts from the management in actively and extensively pursuing a search for new investors – always with the aim of preserving going concern in the best interest of creditors – it has become clear in the last few hours that these alternative options are no more viable, thus leaving the company with no other choice than resolving for the opening of a bankruptcy judicial liquidation,” it says. In other words, Energica is broke and sees no other way out other than to go to the insolvency court.
There have already been rumours of financial problems in recent weeks. As the American investor Ideanomics is in trouble itself, Energica could not expect any fresh capital from its most important shareholder – Ideanomics controls 75 per cent of Energica. Over the past two years, the motorbike manufacturer has been looking for additional investors, but the search has remained unsuccessful.
Just how deadlocked the situation at Energica is (which has presumably also deterred potential investors) is made clear in a bold note at the very end of the press release on the insolvency: “This press release is attributed to the founding members of Energica. It is noted that Ideanomics has chosen not to comment.”
The company was officially founded in 2014 as Energica Motor Company Srl, but work on the design of the electric motorbikes had been going on in the background since 2009. The founding team listed the company on the Milan stock exchange in 2016 to finance its growth, which was no longer possible with its own funds. Ideanomics joined the company in 2021 and enabled the market launch of the new Experia model with its financial injection. In March 2022, Ideanomics successfully completed a voluntary takeover bid and delisted Energica from the stock exchange – to make the company freer and more flexible from investor constraints.
However, numerous factors have meant that the market for electric motorbikes has not developed as Energica had hoped. “The subsequent crisis in the electric market and the decline in sector investments impacted Ideanomics, and consequently, compromised Energica’s investment capabilities,” the company now writes. “The company has also faced challenges from the downturn in the automotive market and supply chain, being particularly affected as a small and medium-sized enterprise.”
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