If it seems like the motorcycle world is constantly buzzing with rumors, that’s probably because it is. Some of them don’t amount to anything, but others end up coming true. Take, for example, all the rumors about Marc Marquez leaving Honda, or Ducati quietly developing a motocross bike (and snagging Tony Cairoli) behind the scenes.
Now we have another one. When KTM first acquired a 25.1 percent stake in MV Agusta in 2022, plenty of people wondered when the other shoe would drop. After all, many moto enthusiasts have been paying attention long enough to have witnessed KTM’s takeovers of both Husqvarna and GasGas. Why should MV be any different?
Then came the seemingly endless back-and-forth in the press. Pierer Mobility and KTM head Stefan Pierer, along with board member Hubert Trunkenpolz, publicly talked about the company’s future, and their visions seemed to include taking over MV Agusta. Then someone (anyone; it happened with multiple publications) would interview MV Agusta CEO Timur Sardarov, and he’d insist that KTM won’t be taking over his company.
On October 24, 2023, Pierer Mobility released a statement regarding a “strategic company decision.” The title of the statement is, “Deepening the cooperation with MV Agusta.”
As business-related statements go, it’s an incredibly short one. The subject line reads, “KTM AG and MV Agusta agree call option on majority stake.” The words are printed in bold.
After the subject line, there’s a paragraph summarizing the business relationship between KTM and MV Agusta thus far. It talks about KTM acquiring that 25.1 percent stake in MV, taking over MV’s supply chain and purchasing, and also handling the Varese brand’s distribution through Pierer Mobility’s massive worldwide network.
Then comes the sentence that most keen observers probably saw coming. “The call option granted to KTM AG on the basis of the annual financial statements as of December 31, 2025 to acquire a majority stake in MV Agusta will be exercised in spring 2026.”
What is a Call Option?
For those of us who aren’t business experts, Britannica Money describes a call option as follows.
“So exactly how can you get exposure to the upside potential of a stock, but with less up-front capital outlay and with a limit to the downside risk? By purchasing a call option contract,” it begins.
“A call option gives the buyer the right—but not the obligation—to purchase shares of the underlying stock at a set price (called the strike price or exercise price) by a set date (called the expiration date),” Britannica states, very clearly and concisely.
So, in other words, Pierer Mobility says that KTM will have a majority stake in MV Agusta sometime in spring 2026. There will clearly be more news about the deal between now and that time, but at least we don’t have to wonder anymore.
