Court rejects KKCG bid to suspend Ferretti board appointments

The Court of Bologna has rejected KKCG Maritime’s request to suspend decisions made at Ferretti’s shareholders’ meeting on 14 May 2026. Ferretti’s board remains in place, but the wider legal challenge to those decisions continues.

Ferretti announced the decision in a media release yesterday (13 October 2026).

The application was filed by Azúr (operating as KKCG Maritime), the investment company backed by Czech investor Karel Komárek, which owns approximately 23 per cent of Ferretti. Ferretti International Holding (FIH) owns 39.5 per cent. FIH is entirely owned by Weichai Group, a Chinese state-owned business.

KKCG Maritime asked the court to suspend shareholder decisions on the size of Ferretti’s board, the appointment of its directors and chairman, and the appointment of its board of statutory auditors, which oversees compliance with legal and corporate requirements. It also wanted the votes recounted without including those cast by FIH.

If granted, those requests could have changed who sits on Ferretti’s board and other governing bodies.

According to Ferretti, the court found that KKCG Maritime had not shown sufficient legal grounds to justify suspending the decisions while the main case proceeds. It rejected all requests for interim relief, the legal term for temporary measures taken before a case is resolved.

A central question in the ruling was whether FIH should have been allowed to vote. KKCG Maritime argued that its voting rights should have been suspended under Italy’s Golden Power legislation, which allows the government to review and potentially restrict foreign investment in businesses considered strategically important.

That argument concerned the Ferretti Security Division, established in 2016. KKCG Maritime argued that its creation should have triggered a requirement to notify the Italian authorities about FIH’s shareholding.

The court found that establishing the division, whose activities are now limited, did not trigger that requirement for the stake FIH already owned. It therefore found no basis on those grounds for suspending FIH’s voting rights.

The court also found that allegations of undisclosed agreements between shareholders and misuse of FIH’s voting rights were unfounded.

In its statement, Ferretti welcomed the decision and said its board and other governing bodies continue to carry out their duties.

The ruling does not settle the wider dispute.

KKCG began its legal challenge in early June 2026, and hearings to consider the case’s substance are expected to start in November. Ferretti says it will continue to defend its position and protect its interests under the law.