Lapo Elkann lands on the Swiss stock exchange with a collector car e-commerce company. The transaction provides that Lapo – brother of the president of Stellantis and Exor, John Elkann and nephew of Avvocato Agnelli – sells his company Garage Italia to the Swiss listed company Youngtimers AG, of which he will become one of the first shareholders with 23.04 % of the capital. The technically complex move is part of a private placement for a total of 35 million francs.
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The financial transaction
The placement of the shares – specifies a note from the Swiss company – was led by L. Holding Srl, an investment company of Lapo Elkann, which already operates in the market of collector cars and the personalization and electrification of cars through Garage Italia, a company that, having been acquired by Youngtimers Asset Company AG (Yac), which became wholly owned by the latter. With the transaction L. Holding Srl thus becomes one of the main shareholders of the Swiss company al parts of the vice president Clive Ng. Another significant shareholder will be the president of the company, Adam Lindemann, who owns 3%. The aim is to make further acquisitions and integrations in the collector car trade sector. The group also includes Youngtimers Classics, a platform for trading and financing collector cars founded by Lindemann, defined in the note as an investor expert in alternative assets, car collector and motor racing enthusiast, and by Izabela Depczyk, entrepreneur in the field of art, e-commerce and media.
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The collectors’ market
Garage Italia has built an important name and presence in the Italian automotive world over the years, said Lapo Elkann, former founder and shareholder of the Italia Independent company, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange – Youngtimers AG’s investments will help bring our expertise and knowledge of the collectible automotive sector to the global market. The automotive world in general, and the collector car market in particular, are undergoing a rapid transformation driven by generational shifts in collectors’ tastes and preferences, Lindemann commented, and these alterations create an exceptional opportunity for Youngtimers AG to consolidate the collectible car trade focusing on the younger generation of consumers and sustainable business models focused on using the latest advances in e-commerce and financial services.
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Balex Law, the Swiss firms Wenger Vieli & Co and Lenz & Staehelin, and the Italian firms Bird & Bird and Pedersoli Studio Legale with Moses & Singer (USA) were the legal advisors for the acquisitions of Yac, Garage Italia Customs Srl and the assets by Youngtimers Classics.
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