Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (Deutsche Bank‘s private equity branch) won the competitive auction for a 35% stake in Rimorchiatori Mediterranei (gruppo Rimorchiatori Riuniti), a leading tugboats operator in the Mediterranean sea, headquartered in Genoa, owned by the Gavarone and Delle Piane families, MF Shipping & Logistica wrote last Friday November 17th, adding that the deal will be finalized next Thursday November 23rd and that the fund will be allowed to raise its stake till 40%. The deal was made on the basis of an enterprise value of 430 million euros for the company.
Binding offers for Rimorchiatori Riuniti had been delivered at the end of October (see here a previous post by BeBeez), when other three potential investors were interested at the deal or F2i sgr, Blackstone and First State Investments.
The deal will be financed by a foreign private debt fund and Mediobanca (financial advisor). Other advisors for the deal include FP Corporate Finance, Italian lawfirms Legance and Berlingieri Maresca Malta-based lawfirm Fenech&Fenech, German Ingenieurburo Weselmann (technical advisor), British Mds Transmodal (industrial advisor), Deloitte (fiscal advisor) and Aon (insurance).
At the same time of the deal a new sub-holding will be created (Rimorchiatori Mediterranei spa), where will be concentrated the majority stakes in Rimorchiatori Riuniti Porto di Genova, Rimorchiatori Salerno, Rimorchiatori Augusta and Rimorchiatori Malta, and the 50% stake of Gesmar (as the other 50% is owned by the Vitiello family), all companies owning licences to operate in the ports of Genoa,  Salerno, Augusta, Ravenna, Trieste and Ancona.
Rimorchiatori Riuniti, founded in 1922 and now operating with a bout 100 vessels, was expected to list in the mid-term instead of opening its capital to private equity funds. At least that was what Rimorchiatori Riuniti’s ceo Gregorio Gavarone said it would have been when in 2014 announced it was entering the Elite Program, an education program for SMEs managed by the Italian Stock Exchange aiming at structuring themselves for meeting international investors requestes in view of a possibile listing, bond issuing or private equity deal.
Thanks to the deal, Rimorchiatori Riuniti will be able to finance a new shopping season after the m&a it already did. Rimorchiatori Riuniti reached 114.5 million euros in consolidated revenues in 2016 (from 121.8 millions in 2015), a 55.5 million euros ebitda, a 31.2 millions ebit and a 17.6 million euros net profit (from 25.7 millions in 2015) (see here an analysis by Leanus, after free registration and login).
