I Viaggi del Ventaglio: Italy's second-largest tour operator collapsed with €200M hole

I Viaggi del Ventaglio was founded in Milan on 1 March 1976 by Bruno Colombo as a niche tour operator focused on cultural and nature travel. Through a series of acquisitions — Caleidoscopio (1996), Columbus (2000), Utat Viaggi (2001), and Best Tour (2003) — it grew to become Italy's second-largest tour operator, with 70 holiday villages worldwide and a fleet of 4,191 employees at its peak. The company was listed on the Borsa Italiana from 2001.

The growth was funded by debt. In 2003 the company founded its own airline, Livingston Energy Flight, in a joint venture with Lauda Air, adding another layer of fixed costs. By September 2009 the stock exchange suspended trading in Ventaglio shares as losses mounted. The company had lost €26.8 million in the first nine months of 2009 alone.

The trigger was a set of toxic financial derivatives that Ventaglio had signed with UniCredit and Banca Intesa. The Milan Court found that the company had a €200 million financial hole, cumulative losses exceeding €100 million, and a net worth deficit of €50 million — its equity was completely wiped out. On 16 July 2010 the Milan Court declared bankruptcy, the first time an Italian judge had sent a listed company into bankruptcy rather than allowing a pre-insolvency settlement.

At the time of bankruptcy the company employed about 400 people, many of whom had not been paid and were placed on furlough. The founder Bruno Colombo had left the presidency in March 2010, handing control to liquidator Franco Tatò. The brands were sold at auction in June 2014 for €250,000 to Turisberg, a tour operator run by an unrelated namesake of the founder. Livingston Energy Flight had its licence suspended in October 2010 and was declared insolvent in November 2010.