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These are interesting
times for European boatbuilders. The motoryacht manufacturers that dominate
the market today were all set up within a few years of each other, and
most are still run by the men who, back in the late 1960’s and
early 1970’s, let their hearts rule their heads and went into the
boat business. They have shadowed each other through boom and recession
all their working lives. But of all the competitive rivalries that have
grown up among these entrepreneurs, none is more intriguing than that
between Italy’s two biggest hitters: Paolo Vitelli’s Azimut-Benetti
Group and the agglomeration of yards run by Norberto Ferretti called
the Ferretti Group.
It’s a heavyweight
bout. Vitelli controls Azimut, the Viareggio superyacht yard Benetti,
and now the sportboat builder Gobbi. The group estimates revenues in
2003/2004 of more than $500 million. As for Ferretti, since embarking
on an acquisitions program some five years ago, he now oversees some
of the greatest names in boatbuilding, including Riva, Bertram, Pershing,
and ApreaMare—and he claims estimated revenues for 2003 of more
than $436 million.
The companies are
fundamentally different in philosophy and outlook, and so are the men
behind them. At 55, Vitelli exudes an air of studied caution: carefully
husbanding the company’s resources, funding growth internally,
and keeping a wary eye on the $120 million that he says the company
has in the bank. On the other hand, Ferretti, 57, still seems every
inch the Lamborghini dealer he started out as 35 years ago, with an
aggressive, cheerful confidence, sharp suit, and slightly raffish air.
He floated his company on the Italian stock market in 2000, bought it
out again with the help of a merchant bank, and has borrowed “a
considerable amount” to fund an extraordinary expansion program
that includes three completely new manufacturing plants currently under
construction. He now holds just 26 percent of the company that bears
his name—the bank owns the majority share.
The differences between
the two men aren’t only stylistic, they’re palpable. Vitelli’s
Avigliana office is a large, L-shape room on the second floor, dominated
by an oak boardroom table 15 feet long. At one end sits a large globe,
and beyond it, bookshelves containing reference works, Jane’s Fighting
Ships and Nautical Quarterly. The walls are adorned with certificates,
awards, half-hull models, and a dark oil portrait of an old man in simple
garb—his grandfather. Behind his small desk, striking a slightly
surreal note, hangs a photograph of the king of Norway in full naval
rig; Vitelli happens to be Norway’s honorary consul.
“Ferretti? We
are friends,” he pronounces, hands on the table when I inquire
about his rival. “He is a very good manager, a very good technical
man. He chooses a way to grow that is different from ours—acquisition,
not internal growth.” The three divisions of Vitelli’s group—boatbuilders
Azimut and Benetti and Azimut Capital, which operates the boatbuilder
Gobbi and various real estate ventures such as a new large marina complex
in Varazze, near Genoa—are characteristically run by experienced
managers who have worked alongside Vitelli for many years. “Do
I want to know about every decision? No,” he smiles, “but
in reality I do know. As long as they respect my ability to help them,
they come to me. And as long as I respect their ability to run the business,
I leave it to them. It’s a balance.”
Next page >
Part 2: After all these years in business, Ferretti still manages to retain the optimism of an adventurer. > Page 1, 2,
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