Under Piaggio ownership and management in flight The Rinaldo Piaggio S.p.A company was founded in
Sestri Ponente, Genoa, Italy in 1884. Originally, the company was involved in the outfitting of
ocean liners and the manufacturing of
rolling stock for the developing Italian railway infrastructure around the turn of the century. From the financial gains that it had garnered from these industries, Rinaldo Piaggio was able to construct a large factory based in
Finale Marina or Finalmarina during 1906. In 1915 the company acquired the
Officine Aeronautiche Francesco Oneto and began producing materials for the aeronautical industry. The 1920s was a particularly turbulent and influential period in the company's history; Piaggio Aero brought on two new
aeronautical engineers, Giovanni Pegna and
Giuseppe Gabrielli, who both played a major role in developing Piaggio's aeronautical sector. Penga and Gabrielli worked together to create numerous technical solutions to aviation problems; to support their aerodynamic research, in 1928, Piaggio completed a new
wind tunnel. The aircraft was aimed at business and executive clients and its confirmed the fastest turboprops in its category, versatile and exclusive.
The crisis and bankruptcy However, in the 90s, the strong competition in the
business aircraft market with
business jets, led the company into crisis and subsequently into
bankruptcy.
Under Turkish holding company Tushav control During the late 1990s, Piaggio's ownership went through multiple drastic changes following the firm's
bankruptcy. During November 1998, it was announced that
Turkish holding company Tushav had taken control of Piaggio; it was rebranded as
Piaggio Aero Industries shortly thereafter. In the years that followed, an increasingly large stake in the company was acquired by a group of entrepreneurs headed by the Josè Di Mase and
Piero Ferrari. During 2000, Tushav decided to surrender its interest in Piaggio Aero Industries; the entity had once held a controlling 51% stake in the company, but this hold had reduced in favour of new Italian investors buying into Piaggio.
Under Ferrari and Di Mase control and management In 2000 the company was under the control and management of Piero Ferrari and Di Mase and recovered from the crisis of the 90s, with the success of the Avanti and the certification of the Avanti II in 2005. With an order of 36
P.180 Avanti II by
Avantair, a New Jersey company, worth almost € 200M, the company emerged from the crisis, becoming a leader in the production of executive aircraft. During 2006, the
Abu Dhabian Mubadala Development Company acquired a 35% stake in Piaggio Aero Industries S.p.A.; Mubadala is a wholly owned investment vehicle of the Government of the Emirate of
Abu Dhabi, in the
United Arab Emirates. Two years later, the Indian
multinational conglomerate Tata Group acquired a one-third stake in Piaggio Aero Industries, becoming one of the primary shareholders alongside
Piero Ferrari, the Di Mase family and the Mubadala Development Company. As part of the acquisition, Tata gained the right to appoint three of the nine seats on the board, and one of the three seats on the management committee. This did not represent an absolute termination; for years following the project being put on hold, Piaggio publicly speculated on the possible launch of the programme. In 2009, Piaggio Aero sponsored the helmets of
Scuderia Ferrari, a team that included
Formula One drivers
Felipe Massa,
Giancarlo Fisichella,
Kimi Räikkönen, and
Luca Badoer. The company was negatively impacted by the
Great Recession, the event having caused a downturn in the market for
business aircraft; reportedly, deliveries of its P.180 Avanti declined drastically from 30 aircraft during 2008 to only four per year by 2018. The platform was also adapted into a
maritime patrol aircraft, as well as for additional special purposes, around this same timeframe. In parallel with these programmes, the company continued to make improvements to the base P.180 Avanti, introducing an extended-range model during 2013. During 2013, Mubadala and Tata injecting an additional €190 million into Piaggio Aero Industries, increasing their combined stakes to 85.5%.
Under Mubadala control and management The new
Avanti EVO is presented in May 2014. In October 2014, Piaggio Aero changed its name to Piaggio Aerospace. In November 2014, the new
Villanova d'Albenga plant was inaugurated in the presence of the Italian Prime Minister,
Matteo Renzi, and the Minister of Defense
Roberta Pinotti. During 2015, the Mubadla Development Company acquired 100% of the capital stock, assuming full control of Piaggio, after obtaining the final 1.95% of the stock from Piero Ferrari. On 3 December 2018, Piaggio Aerospace was admitted into
receivership after having declared itself
insolvent. The company's restructuring plan had failed less than a year after its owner, Mubadala, had injected €255 million and repurchased its bank debt.
Under the control of extraordinary commissioners appointed by the Italian government In December 2018, the company entered the extraordinary receivership proceedings with the appointment of Vincenzo Nicastro as Extraordinary Commissioner. The same applied later to its subsidiary Piaggio Aviation. According to two different decrees of the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy signed on 1 March 2023, the Group is now led by three Extraordinary Commissioners: the aforementioned Vincenzo Nicastro, Davide Rossetti (coordinator) and Carmelo Cosentino (industry and aviation expert). During February 2020, it was announced that Piaggio Aerospace had been put up for sale. During the extraordinary management by the commissioners, the company is restructured and in 2022 it closes the 2021 financial year with a turnover of approximately 152 million euros, with an order portfolio of around 500 million euros and new orders for a further approximately 180 million euros.
Acquired by Baykar In December 2024, the Turkish
Baykar Technologies drone manufacturer took over the ownership of Piaggio Aerospace. ==Operations==