On 23 December 2021, Italian eyewear Marcolin, an asset of PAI Partners, sold to LVMH its 49% of Thélios, the joint venture that the vendor and the buyer created in 2017 (see here a previous post by BeBeez). At the same time Marcolin bought back the 10% stake that LVMH owned of Marcolin itself. Marcolin fetched net cash for 128 million euros overall. Pai had acquired 78.6% of the Italian company in 2012 for 207 millions from its major shareholders and other 56 millions in a mandatory tender offer that led to the delisting of the company from the Italian Stock Exchange in 2013.
In the week beginning on 10 January, Monday, the workers of Italian Automotive company GKN Driveline Firenze will meet with the new company’s owner Gruppo Borgomeo at the Italian Ministry for Economic Development (see here a previous post by BeBeez). In 2018, London-listed turnaround fund Melrose paid 8.1 billion British pounds for taking private London-listed GKN and decided to close the company’s Italian subsidiary GKN Driveline that in 2020 had sales of 101.7 million euros, an ebitda of minus 2.9 million and net cash of 60k euros. Borgomeo is looking for an investor to pour 100 million in relaunching GKN. The asset is said to have attracted the interest of an Italian industrial company with revenues of 250 million, of a Milan-listed company and of a financial investor.
Linkem, an Italian tlc company will merge its commercial activities with Milan-listed Tiscali of which will acquire a 62% stake (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Tiscali has a market capitalization of 116 million euros. Linkem’s controlling shareholders are Jefferies (Leucadia National Corporation), BlackRock, Ramius Capital (part of Cowen Group), Vintage Capital and Guglielmo Tabacchi. Davide Rota is the ceo of Linkem which has sales of 140.6 millions, an ebitda of 56.1 millions, net losses of 69.6 millions, and a net financial debt of 147.8 millions.
Equitix won the auction to acquire the photovoltaic assets of Milan-listed utility ACEA (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The transaction, which will be conducted through Equitix Investment Management Limited, was announced on Christmas Eve and has a value of 220 million euros, equal to 10x the 2022 ebitda of the assets involved. Equitix’s offer was in competition with the one by Italy’s Tages Helios fund last November.
Portugues GamaLife – Companhia de Seguros de Vida, a buy and build vehicle for the life insurance sector that Apax Partners controls, won the auction for acquiring Zurich Investments Life‘s Italian life policies for 128 million euros (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Zurich will increase its cash by 200 million dollars and its Swiss Solvency Test ratio will be of 214% from 203% at the end of September 2021.
Danilo Iervolino acquired Italian football club Salernitana Calcio and a controlling stake of Milan-listed Blue Financial Communication Media (BFC Media), the publisher of Forbes Italian edition, ahead of the launch of a public offer (see here a previous post by BeBeez). As for this last deal, Denis Masetti sold a 51% of BFC Media at 3.75 euros per share or 6.072 million euros. As for the deal on the Italian soccer team, Claudio Lotito and Marco Mezzaroma sold Salernitana for about 20 million euros. The soccer club in 2020 had sales of 8 million, an ebitda of minus 7.3 million and net cash of 198k euros.
Dinesh Paliwal will be the new ceo of Marelli, an Italian industrial company that was born in 2019 out of the merger of Italian Magneti Marelli with Japon’s Calsonic Kansei, both KKR’s portfolio companies (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Paliwal will replace Beda Bolzenius. Marelli has suffered from the pandemic and is said to be cutting about 3k workers in the next months. Marelli is also trying to sell its suspension division, which, despite a turnover close to 900 million euros, is not profitable enough. Marelli’s perimeter now counts 170 plants and Research and Development centers in Asia, America, Europe and Africa and a turnover of 10.4 billion euros in 2020.
In the next two years Previndai, an Italian pension fund for corporate managers, aims to invest up to 300 million euros in the real economy through funds of private equity, private debt, direct lending, infrastructures and real estate. At the end of 2020 the pension fund was invested/committed for a total of 210 million euros in alternative assets (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Francesco Di Ciommo is the chairman of Previndai.
Whitehelm Capital, an infrastructure management company, acquired 45% of Ecotermica Servizi, an Italian manufacturer of teleheating systems (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Gruppo Fratelli Visconti will keep 55% of the target. Banco BPM financed the transaction. The company has revenues of 7.3 million euros and an ebitda of 1.2 million.
Arrigoni, an Italian producer of nets for agricolture and industrial use of which Armònia owns 70%, acquired Lirsa (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Maria Iervolino (15,33%), Vincenzo, Marco, Enrico, and Simone Scudieri (12% each) sold Lirsa, a manufacturer of films for agricolture and packaging. The target has sales of 27.6 million euros, an ebitda of 7.3 million and net cash of 16.3 million. Paolo Arrigoni is the ceo and founder of the buyer. Arrigoni has sales of 31.5 million, an ebitda of 5.3 million and a net financial debt of little above 0.6 million
Aliante Partners sold its 14.63% of Contri Spumanti to Hyle Capital Partners (HCP) (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company belongs to the Contri family, Agrintesa (12.2%), Cantina di Carpi e Sorbara (2.44%), Cantina di S. Croce (1.63%), and other minority shareholders. Contri has sales of 107 million euros, an ebitda of 8.2 million and net cash of 3.2 million
Pomona Farming, a producer of dry fruit that belongs to PSP Investments, acquired 65% of Italian competitor Alfrus from brothers Leonardo, Domenico and Michele Sisto, who will keep a 35% as well as their management roles (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Alfrus has sales of 114.2 million euros, an ebitda of 5.4 million and a net debt of 13.5 million. In June 2020, Alfrus and other companies joined the first issuance of the basket bond programme of Unicredit and the Apulia Region for a total placement of 33.4 million euros.
White Bridge Investments acquired from Cronos Capital Partners a 70% stake of Lampa, an italian fashion firm (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Brothers Mirko and Luca Bertoli and their father Diego Bertoli will keep a minority of the business and their operative roles. Crédit Agricole and Banco BPM financed White Bridge. Lampa has sales of 14.9 million euros and an ebitda of 2.9 million. The company aims to grow through acquisitions.
Credem Private Equity paid 18 million euros for 70% of Regas, an Italian provider of metering services for the gas sector, on the ground of an equity value of 25.7 million (see here a previous post by BeBeez). CPE has resources of 132 millions. Franco Jamoletti, the target’s founder, will hold 30% of the business. Regas has sales of 20.3 million, an ebitda of 5.6 million and net cash of 4 million
Project Informatica, a cybersecurity company that belongs to HIG Capital since 2020, acquired the majority of Italian competitor Extraordy (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Gaetano La Rosa will be the ceo of the target and hold a minority of the business together with Federica Mottura. Extraordy has sales of 2.27 million euros, an ebitda of 0.5 million and net cash of 1.26 million. Project Informatica has sales of 126.4 million, an ebitda of 13.8 million and a net financial debt of 14.2 million.
Bluefield Revive Italia, a co-investment vehicle that UK renewable energy investor Bluefield Partners manages, acquired 6 Italian photovoltaic plants with a total power of 6 MW from a Hong Kong-listed player (see here a previous post by BeBeez). James Armstrong, Giovanni Terranova and Mike Rand founded Bluefield in 2019. Neil Wood became a partner of the firm in 2020.
SR Investimenti (Sistemi Rinnovabili Investimenti), a company that Antonio Urbano heads and in which Pioneer Point Partners invested, acquired 10 Italian photovoltaic plants with a total power of 10 MW (See here a previous post by BeBeez). Evergreenvest sold the assets.
