Mediobanca Sells 6.5 pct of Ferrari to Lehman

Italian investment bank Mediobanca have sold a 6.5 percent stake in sports car maker Ferrari to U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers for 148.2 million euros.

Lehman, which has long been active in the Italian market, joined a list of other banks, including Germany's Commerzbank, that have agreed to buy into the Mediobanca-led deal despite what many consider an elevated price for the Fiat unit.

The price per share was the same as what Mediobanca and three other banks paid in acquiring 34 percent of Ferrari for 775.2 million euros in June, the investment bank said in a statement.

The June deal put an underlying valuation of 2.28 billion euros on Ferrari, giving an immediate hefty cash boost to debt-laden Fiat, which had been looking to sell off a stake in Ferrari through an initial public offering.

Mediobanca gained the prestige of being able to list Ferrari over the next year from the purchase, and Lehman's role in the deal could potentially give it a piece of the high-profile flotation as well.

"This is part of our normal business, which includes buying, selling, hedging and general dealing in securities," a Lehman spokeswoman in New York said.

Lehman was Italy's top-ranked M&A adviser through late July, according to data from Datalogic, making strong inroads in a market where Mediobanca has been struggling to recover its former dominance.

The agreement cuts Mediobanca's stake in the racing team and high-priced sports car maker but the bank said it will continue to manage the consortium that has taken the Ferrari stake.

Mediobanca added that as part of the deal, it retained an option to repurchase the stake from Lehman through a convertible bond that Mediobanca has agreed to buy from Lehman. The 24-month bond will carry a yield of about one percent up until its expiration, the investment bank said.

Lehman also has the option to pay back the bond through cash or through Ferrari shares, Mediobanca said.

Mediobanca said at the time it announced the deal that foreign and Italian banks would take 12.5 percent of Ferrari, cutting its commitment to 21.5 percent, and the Lehman deal further cuts its holding to 15 percent.

A long list of banks, including Fiat shareholder Deutsche Bank, spurned the deal after it was announced in June, judging it too pricey. Analysts said a valuation of about half what Mediobanca paid would have been more appropriate, given multiples for German rival Porsche.