The Castiglioni family is reportedly looking to offload 30 percent of its motorcycle company, MV Agusta, and rumor has it that Daimler is interested in snagging a stake. F4 RR AMG, anyone?
The bidding war between Audi and AMG to purchase Ducati in 2012 ended with Volkswagen winning the deal and rolling the Italian bike maker into its Lamborghini subsidiary. That left Daimler as the lone German automaker without a motorcycle brand under its belt.
Germany's Boersen-Zeitung reports (via Reuters) that the family that bought MV Agusta from Harley-Davidson in 2010 is now looking to float up to 30 percent of the company on the stock exchange, and Castiglioni claims Daimler approached MV in recent weeks to acquire a minority stake.
MV has had five owners in the last 15 years, with Malaysian automaker Proton buying it in 2004, then selling it to a Genoa-based securities company in 2005, then getting acquired by H-D in 2008, and finally sold to the Castiglioni family in 2010. During that time, MV also offloaded Husqvarna to BMW to keep the company afloat.
A deal with Daimler could finally quell the turmoil, while giving MV access to the technology and R&D it needs to compete with Ducati and BMW. Exactly what Daimler would get out of it – aside from adding another marque to its portfolio – isn't exactly clear, but when has rationality ever had a hand in buying an Italian motorcycle?