It was in 1992 when Horacio Pagani launched an eponymous supercar company in the backyard of Ferrari and Lamborghini. Starting with the Zonda C12, Pagani quickly became one of the most celebrated supercar brands in the world. Over the last 29 years, the Italian boutique manufacturer has given us some of the most breathtaking V12-powered exotics under the Zonda and Huayra models. While the Zonda finally went out of production in 2019, the Huayra is soon to be replaced as well. For Pagani to survive well into the future, it has to transition towards electrification, which requires a lot of capital for research and development. Pagani has announced that it has found a new investor for infusing funds necessary to develop new technology.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, also known as PIF, has agreed to buy a minority stake in Italian supercar maker Horacio Pagani SpA. Bloomberg reports that the investment is part of a long-term strategic partnership with the Italian manufacturer and PIF will acquire 30% of Horacio Pagani SpA. The supercar maker has remained a closely held Italian company till now, with Nicola Volpi and Emilio Petrone as the minority stakeholders. However, the Pagani family will keep full control of the company even after the deal with PIF. Interestingly, the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund has been investing in different automobile brands over the last few years, with a greater focus on EV brands. In 2018, PIF acquired a small stake in Tesla Inc, which was followed by an investment in competing EV maker Lucid Group Inc. PIF’s investment in Pagani may prove to be instrumental for the Italian brand in achieving its goal of developing its own electric hypercar.
