The historical tennis racquets brand Snauwaert becomes Italian and starts a new life, MF Milano Finanza writes today adding that the deal has been organized by Roberto Gazzara, former executive in Prince Sports and now designer of the new Snauwaert line which was relaunched last year by Belgian Big Group. Founded in Belgium in 1928, the Snauwaert brand has been an iconic tennis racquet for decades till the Ninties when the company stopped its production.
More in detail, Mr. Gazzara together with a group of other private investors has founded Snauwaert srl last July, which has signed a long term agreement with Big Group to rent and then take over and develop the brand and the business of Snauwaert. Snauweert srl has already bought Snauwaert Japan and has founded Snauwaet America in the US. Snauwaert srl has been advised for the deal by financial advisor AC Finance/Bemycompany and will go on in its incubation process with in Italy with Bemycompany.
Snauwaert srl is owned with a 67.5% stake by Noxi srl (which in turn is onwed with an 84% stake by Mr. Gazzara himself), with a 10% stake by Mr. Gazzara directly, with a a 10% by Francesco Masetto (who is also a shareholder in Noxi with a 3% stake), with 7.5% by Kukita Katsuyuki (ceo of Snauwaert Japan) and with 5% by Francesco Mariotto.
Mr. Gazzara is not new to this kind of deals as he was personally involved in the relaunch of US tennis brand Prince back in 2012, when its was bought by Authentic Brands Group, an investment veichle controlled by the Waitt Company, an investment company based in Omaha (Usa). Back then Mr. Gazzara was reconfirmed as head of research of the research and development center in Treviso, which was active since wuen the Prince brand was owned by the Italian Benetton family.
