Ferrari IPO races onto Wall Street

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Ferrari IPO races onto Wall Street



NEW YORK: -- Ferrari briefly left the racing track behind on Wednesday to race to a new destination – Wall Street.

Car enthusiasts will now be able to own a piece of the company as it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Executives from Ferrari and its parent company Fiat Chrysler joined the opening bell ringing ceremony on Wednesday morning.

The stock sale has valued the race car specialist at $9.8 billion (8.6 billion euros).

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) was priced at $52 (45.8 euros) a share as they began trading under the appropriate symbol “Race”.

Entering the stock market has proved difficult for other novices, but Ferrari will be trying to trade on its exclusive image.

Last year it shipped only 7,255 cars – and that figure is up by a third on a decade ago.

It’s a fraction of the number of vehicles sold by Fiat Chrysler – which is selling a tenth of its 90 percent stake in Ferrari, and will use the proceeds of the sale to help fund its growth plan.

Despite Ferrari’s public journey from its northern Italian roots to Wall Street, the company will remain in the hands of a small number of investors.

The move to go public has been both praised as audacious, but it has also been questioned as being potentially unsound.

The chance to buy shares may be tempting, though Ferrari fans may argue it’s not a patch on owning the car itself.


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-10-22