Motorcycle.com

In September, the board of directors of Ducati will review and are expected to approve of the plan to be absorbed by Performance Motorcycles S.p.A., an investment group consisting of shareholders Investindustrial, BS Investimenti and Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan (HOPP).

The three shareholders owned a combined 30% share of the Italian OEM in February when they announced plans to buy out the rest of the company for 1.70 euros a share, an arrangement worth 390.8 million euros (US$579 million). At the time, Investindustrial held a 15.6% share, HOPP 7.4% and BS Investimenti 7%, and stock in Ducati Motor Holding traded at 1.40 euros per share.

Under the Performance Motorcycles banner, the three shareholders currently own a combined 86.7% of Ducati while the value of shares has increased to 1.63 euros.

The Ducati board has appointed Mediobanca S.p.A. to act as its financial advisor to review the proposed acquisition. CONSOB, Italy’s regulatory body supervising companies and stock exchanges, has already approved of the deal.

Once the board of directors has approved the proposal, Ducati Motor Holding will be delisted and is slated to merge with Performance Motorcycles by December, 2008.