Mercurial Modena-based electric motorcycle manufacturer, Energica has filed for a “bankruptcy judicial liquidation” under Italian insolvency law. This will, according to its beleaguered board of directors, “allow repayment of creditors to an extent possible from the proceeds of liquidation”. No doubt such creditors shouldn’t hold out much hope of any worthwhile recompense.
Originally founded in 2014 as a spin-off from Franco and Livia Cevolini’s CRP Group motorsports business, Energica’s rocky road began with an earlier electric race bike design in 2009. More practical prototypes were developed and these progressed to production in 2016, funded by a listing on the Borsa Italiana’s small-cap AIM (Alternative Investment Market) Italia – since renamed as Euronext Growth Milan. This capitalised the company to the tune of €37.3m (£31.2m).
Energica’s highest profile came in 2018, when MotoGP promoter Dorna chose it as sole motorcycle supplier for the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup championship, a role held for four seasons. The company remained tight on cash and short of new investors, though, until the NASDAQ-listed US company Ideanomics intervened with finance for a new Experia model launch in 2021. It reportedly achieved a record sales volume and tripled annual revenue to €13m.
Ideanomics, which billed itself as a global company focused on accelerating the commercial adoption of electric vehicles, then mounted a successful takeover bid in March 2022, acquiring a 72.42% equity shareholding. Energica was delisted from Milan’s Borsa Italiana and privatised. The Cevolini family was left with a minority 17.62% stake but only a measure of operational control. Whoever owns the missing 9.96% was unlucky too.
Their relationship with Ideanomics proved to be a poison chalice. According to the swansong statement from Energica directors, a subsequent crisis in the electric market (presumably a widely recognised shortage of customers for high-performance and premium-priced ePTWs) and an associated decline in sector investments, impacted Ideanomics’ room for manoeuvre and consequently compromised Energica’s capabilities for attracting new investors.
In fact, Ideanomics has been in trouble for some time, with its share price calculated in a few cents rather than dollars. The company has also recently been under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission regulator for issuing potentially misleading or fraudulent financial reports. Full-year results from Ideanomics published in June this year revealed a net loss of $234m. And aptly-named chief executive Alf Poor, announced that it would be henceforth reorganising its business to concentrate on last-mile and local delivery EVs, effectively condemning his corporate dalliance with high-end recreational electric steeds to oblivion.