Palumbo Group’s bid to acquire ISA Yachts has been accepted by the Court of Ancona for a reported €11 million. The Group had had its eyes on the Ancona-based shipyard since the company went into administration and the failure of other interested parties such as Wider, Ferretti Group and Fritelli Maritime to come to agreement with the local port authority and trade unions.

 “Acquiring this historic shipyard is a great opportunity for our group, but more importantly we have decided to save the jobs of all 101 workers, whose livelihood has been in the balance for the past year,” said Palumbo CEO, Antonio Palumbo. “Palumbo will now be injecting a new lease of life into the sector.”

Confirmation of the acquisition (the final transfer is expected in the next few days) brings to an end over a year of intense negotiations during which the future of the shipyard and its workers was uncertain. It also represents the latest addition to Palumbo’s portfolio of shipyards in the Mediterranean in Naples, Sicily, Malta and the former ITM yard in Marseilles. Palumbo Group plans to shift production of its Columbus range of superyachts from Naples to Ancona.

 “The Ancona shipyard provides our Group with a very important infrastructure,” added Antonio Palumbo. “Before we could only build one superyacht at a time in our Naples yard, but this enables us to build three to four of these luxury megayachts at one go. Our business is growing and this acquisition is the key to that will allow us to be more competitive against the biggest shipyards in northern Europe.”

Assignment of rights to the Palumbo Group by the Court is expected by the end of July, with a meeting planned with ISA's creditors by the end of October. 

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