Funds advised by Chequers bought Phoenix Group, an Italian group which is an European leader in the production of aluminium extrusion dies, MF Milano Finanza. writes today. Chequers had won bids from other private equity funds such as Hig Capital and Ambienta.
The main seller was Opera sgr (with a 46.4% stake), an Italian private equity firm who won the management of Cape Natixis sgr private equity funds some years ago. Other sellers were Quadrivio sgr (4.6%) and private shareholders. The top management, led by ceo Roberto Rusticelli, will reinvest for a minority stake. The deal has been financed with a 40 million euros acquisition loan issued by Unicredit.
Phoenix Group has been growing quite well in the last few years and reached 66 million euros in revenues in 2015 with a 18% ebitda margin. The company acquired a small business in Germany last year counting 13 million euros in revenues.
