An Italian bankruptcy judge has okayed a new management team at beleaguered Naples owner RBD Armatori while also giving them an extra three months to come up with a restructuring plan to present to creditors.
The line is owned by the Rizzo Bottiglieri de Carlini family but controlled by the turnaround fund Pillarstone Italy which became its main creditor after recently purchasing non-performing-loans from Intesa Sanpaolo and MPS totalling $638m.
The new members of the board are Corrado Gatti, Andrea Zoppini and Enrico Laghi; the latter is also extraordinary commissioner for troubled steel group ILVA and airline Alitalia.
Giuseppe Mauro Rizzo steps down from the role of CEO but will remain on the bridge in charge of fleet management.
In Italy today the most important shipowners in terms of dry and liquid bulk fleets are private equity funds with Pillarstone Italy and Bain Capital (the latter involved in the Giuseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company restructuring) at the forefront.
