US mid-market private equity operator Lincolnshire Management acquired a 51 pct stake in Italian packaging machinery producer Gruppo Fabbri Vignola’s shareholding capital. Sellers were Chiarva family (through Stella Partecipazioni spa), Italian private equity operator IGI sgr (through Fondo IGI Investimenti Quattro) and German entrepreneurs Holger Van Den Heuvel (through San Luca spa) who will still control a 49 pct stake in the company capital.
The deal has been financed by Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna, Cariparma Crédit Agricole and GE Capital Interbanca. Mediobanca was financial advisor to IGI and Chiarva. This is the first Italian deal for the New York based operator Lincolnshire Management, which acquired the stake in the company thorough its Lincolnshire Equity Fund IV.
Gruppo Fabbri Vignola had been sold by Fabbri family to IGI sgr (42,86%), Chiarva family (28,57%) and the German entrepreneurs (28,57%) in 2011. In the last two years a new ceo (Elisabetta Oliveri) and a new management team have been nominated who conducted a wide reorganization in the company processes.
The Group reached 93 million euros in revenues in 2013, counts 500 employees and 150 international patents. It operates in more than 70 countries with three producing plants (Italy and Switzerland) and five commercial subsidiaries (Italy, France, Germany, UK and Switzerland),
