The Court of Bergamo postponed by one week to September 22nd the hearing about the Cartiere Paolo Pigna‘s recovery plan (see here Quotidiano Nazionale, edizione di Sondrio), after the distressed paper manufacturer had been admitted to a bankruptcy procedure last January (si veda altro articolo di BeBeez). The decision has to do with new expressions of interest for the company that have been put forward in the last few months.
Actually Cartiere Paolo Pigna had addressed Bergamo’s Court last September asking for a so called blank-bankrupcty procedure (concordato in bianco) which allows the asking company protection from creditors. Last December the company asked Bergamo Court to be admitted to an arragement with creditors (concordato preventivo) on the basis of a new industrial plan which involved the new investor Bavaria Industries Group.
However at the end of June (see here a previous post by BeBeez) Idea Capital Funds sgr, an Italian managment company of equity funds owned by de Agostini Group, and Bayside Capital (part of HIG Capital Group) announced the first closing for their Idea CCR (Corporate Credit Recovery), a new private equity fund which will invest in Italian mid-sized enterprises in distressed situations aiming to help them restructure and turnaround, and consequently to help banks maximize the recovery of their original loans and Cartiere Pigna was one of the companies whose debts have been sold to the fund.
At the beginning of August the local press (see here BergamoNews) wrote that Idea Ccr fund had bougt 10 million euros fo Pigna’s debt and that expression of interest for the company had been put forward by French Hamelin and Russian Academy trade buyers.
Cartiere Pigna is today controlled by its chairman and ceo Giorgio Jannone and had closed year 2014 with 56.2 million euros in consolidated revenues, a negative ebitda of 576k euros and a 3.3 million euros net loss, with28.8 million euros in net financial debt (source: Leanus). Mr. Jannone subscribed a 9.8 million euros capital increase in 2011 after which he raised its stake to actual 82.8% (while the remaining stake is owned by Carlo Pesenti Pigna’s heirs).
