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Through a series of meetings with its lenders, Pininfarina has reached a new deal to prolong the repayment of its medium and long-term debt from the end of 2015 to the end of 2018.
A final draft outlining all the terms is expected in the coming weeks and should be signed by the end of March.
Importantly, the new deal would mean that the Pininfarina family will be able to maintain its control of the company that their patriarch Battista "Pinin" Farina started back in 1930. Due to several unsuccessful car manufacturing projects, including production of several Ferrari and Maserati models, Pininfarina recently decided to focus purely on its automotive design business going into the future.
This downsizing of the firm has entailed a significant organizational and structural change, which necessarily produced unavoidable, large operating losses that saw the firm’s debts reach levels close to $100 million.
Pininfarina now plans to strengthen its engineering and styling operations by implementing the technical and commercial linkage with some of its German subsidiaries, work closer with Asian firms in the areas of design, and establish more brand licensing arrangements.
At next month’s 2012 Geneva Motor Show Pininfarina plans to unveil the Cambiano Concept, which celebrates two anniversaries for the firm taking place this year: 30 years of its Styling Center, whose operations started in Cambiano in 1982, and 10 years of its Engineering Center, which was inaugurated in 2002.
