Aprilia facing bankruptcy?

According to reports, Aprilia has just five days to find ?5 million and avoid bankruptcy - putting the future of the company, and particularly its MotoGP programme, in doubt.

Britain's Motor Cycle News states that Aprilia has total debts of ?147 million, forcing a halt to production because parts suppliers are refusing to deliver until they are paid money owed (amounting to ?23.5 million).

Aprilia facing bankruptcy?

According to reports, Aprilia has just five days to find ?5 million and avoid bankruptcy - putting the future of the company, and particularly its MotoGP programme, in doubt.

Britain's Motor Cycle News states that Aprilia has total debts of ?147 million, forcing a halt to production because parts suppliers are refusing to deliver until they are paid money owed (amounting to ?23.5 million).

But if the ?5 million, needed to pay off interest to banks, isn't found by a May 3 deadline Aprilia will be declared bankrupt - a situation they are attempting to avoid by finding investors willing to buy a 'small or even controlling share' of the company.
However, even if investors aren't found in time, the banks could decide to keep Aprilia afloat by appointing their own managers, whose job would be to make the company profitable again - and could well see the MotoGP programme as an unnecessary expense.

MCN suggests that Aprilia's financial problems, which began three years ago, were triggered by Italy's decision to make helmets obligatory for scooter riders. Scooter sales, a major source of Aprilia's income, dropped immediately and the problem was multiplied by heavy spending on buying the Laverda and Moto Guzzi brands.

Ducati have recently expressed a renewed interest in buying Moto Guzzi, while Canadian firm Bombardier Recreational Products is tipped as Aprilia's most likely investment saviour.

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