Green light to the continuity agreement for Cin and Moby. Guaranteed connections. The state also pays for the disasters of Onorato

The Court of Milan has admitted Moby spa and the Italian shipping company, alias Tirrenia, al continuously agreed, thus avoiding the failure of the group led by Vincenzo Onorato with over 5 thousand employees. Exactly one year afterstart of the procedure for the two main companies of the holding, both plans presented have obtained the green light from the panel of judges Milanese chaired by Alida Paluchowski. Thanks to the procedure, the business continuity with a restructuring project of the two companies from whose accounts they will disappear 486 million euros of debt – two thirds of Cin spa’s debt (180 million euros) and approximately 60% of Moby’s debt (306 million euros) – with consequent evaporation of the exact counter-value of receivables for a series of subjects.

Among them stands out Navigation Tirrenia in AS, the company under the control of the Ministry of Economic Development which will have to be content with taking in only four years 36 of the 180 million euros owed to her, for which she recently initiated a lawsuit against the Onorato group. Tirrenia di Navigazione in AS, like other companies without guarantees on their credit – which Moby and Cin ask to accept reductions of up to 91% of what they are entitled to – they will have to wait until December 13 of this year to vote on both settlement plans. Long times then to ensure that both companies can enjoy without problems the long trail of a season that the Onorato group has already indicated “with growing numbers” for both companies.

Only on 13 December will it therefore be clear whether the majority of Moby and Cin’s main creditors will give or not green light to the respective settlement plans approved today by the Court of Milan determining the continuation of the process started today. Among these, in addition to the decisive role for Cin spa of Tirrenia di Navigazione in AS and therefore of Mise, for Moby spa the match will be played among bondholders holding the 300 million euro bond – which today is back to 33% of its value on the rise – and the pool of banks with 160 million credit still to be claimed. With the significant difference between privileged creditors, or with guarantees, and not. For the first the plans provide 100% of guaranteed credit, while the latter should be satisfied precisely with 9% and among these there are also creditor banks for 100 million.

However, an expected period is starting with the two decrees of the Court of Milan today four years during which Moby and Cin will be under the control of three judicial commissioners each – Pietro Canevelli, Tiziana Gibillini and Maurizio Orlando for Moby spa; Maddalena Dal Moro, Marco Angelo Russo and Giorgio Zanetti for Cin – to guarantee compliance with the provisions of the two plans to satisfy creditors. For Moby spa one promises continuity of service to be combined with the sale of five ships – Moby Aki, Moby Wonder, Giuseppe Savarese and Pietro Manunta – for an estimated collection of approx 94 million euros, through the arrival of two “Chinese” ships of greater capacity. 50 million are expected already this year from the disposal of the “Tugboat branch” like other real estate includingformer home of Vincenzo Onorato transferred to the company to make it the corporate headquarters before the start of the blank arrangement.

The Court imposed a significant increase in the Campania shipowner personal contribution for the creditors of Moby spa, from the 2 million initially envisaged in the plan, a 6 million euros that will come from the sale of some properties including a complex a Porto Cervo. But above all, the Court of Milan indicated a radical as an “essential step change of governance (for Moby spa nda), to be carried out – the judges write – before the time of the final assessments of the Commissioners “. The new governance, according to the decree issued by the Court, “will have to take on characteristics such as to guarantee the creditor class absolute autonomy in clear continuity with respect to the current management”. Moby is burdened with a debt of half a billion euros, largely dumped by Onorato on the company to finance the purchase of Tirrenia in 2016. The interests that the company is forced to pay on these debts have blown the accounts, which for 5 years has been losing money regularly, something it had never done in the past.

A change of corporate governance, on the other hand not requested by the Court of Cin spa, the former Tirrenia whose current management will have to ensure 159 million euros from the plan from ticketing and other business continuity services, until 2025, albeit with 5 fewer ships, to be placed on the market for a necessary collection of 100.6 million. A complex operation also considering the increase in costs that is envisaged by the settlement plan itself, where to facilitate the overcoming of what the judges have defined “magmatic relations” with Moby spa – owner of Cin 100% and its debtor – the former Tirrenia will have to create its own managerial structure by hiring “47 administrative units and 14 managers for an expense of 4.4 million euros”.

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