Mike Lynch’s yacht builder up for sale
Mike Lynch’s yacht builder up for sale
James TitcombSun, August 16, 2026 at 2:11 PM UTC
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Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah died when his yacht sank off Sicily’s coast in 2024 - Tancredi Group
The Italian superyacht builder behind Mike Lynch’s doomed Bayesian vessel has been put up for sale as its parent company battles for survival.
Perini Navi, which made Lynch’s superyacht, is among the assets that owner The Italian Sea Group (TISG) could seek to sell as it attempts to stave off collapse.
Lynch, known as Britain’s Bill Gates, died when the yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in August 2024, along with his teenage daughter Hannah and five other victims.
Italian and British investigators have appeared to differ over what caused the vessel to keel over and sink during a freak storm in the early hours of the morning.
TISG last year sued Angela Bacares, Lynch’s widow, for €456m (£390m), claiming its sales had collapsed since the Bayesian sank.
The Bayesian was constructed by Perini Navi in 2008 and was bought out of bankruptcy in 2021 by TISG – a collection of luxury shipbuilding brands – under a plan to revive it.
However, TISG’s share price has slumped and sales have collapsed since the sinking of the Bayesian.
The group has also been hit by a financial scandal after it discovered significant cost overruns on major projects run by senior executives.
Giovanni Costantino, its chief executive and majority owner, resigned last month in a move that will lead to the departure of the company’s entire board.
TISG said last week it was putting Perini Navi, alongside the Admiral, Picchioti and Tecnomar brands, as well as its Carrara and La Spezia shipyards, up for sale, after receiving “numerous unsolicited expressions of interest”.
It has called for offers by Sept 15.
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TISG’s share prices have collapsed since the sinking of the Bayesian
Perini – one of the biggest names in luxury yachts – is up for sale amid continued disputes over who was responsible for the £30m Bayesian capsizing.
British maritime investigators have pointed to “vulnerabilities” in the yacht, whereas local reports have said local authorities are focused on the actions of the crew.
According to Italian media, prosecutors have pushed for an expert report into what went wrong to be delivered by the second anniversary of the tragedy – this Wednesday.
Two criminal investigations into the sinking have been launched, with prosecutors still set to decide whether to bring charges once the report is filed.
It is unclear how much TISG might fetch for Perini.
Its lawsuit against Revtom, Ms Bacares’s Isle of Man-based company that owned the Bayesian, said that Perini’s value had collapsed since the sinking, saying sales had fallen to zero since the accident.
“Not only has TISG been unable to sell a single Perini-branded yacht, seeing the ship owners involved in ongoing negotiations vanish, but it has also stopped receiving a single expression of interest from the group of international brokers with whom it collaborates,” the company said at the time.
Sources close to the Lynch family described the lawsuit, which also targets members of the Bayesian’s crew, as “cynical” and “desperate” after it was filed.
It is unclear if Revtom has responded to it or if the case has progressed. TISG did not respond to a request for comment on the case’s status.
Lynch died weeks after he had beaten US criminal charges over the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard (HP) in 2011.
He had been found liable for fraud over the $11bn (£8bn) by the High Court in a case brought by HP and this year a judge said HP was owed £920m, a sum that would bankrupt Lynch’s estate.
Administrators are seeking permission to appeal the ruling.
Source: “AOL Money”
