Italian companies are pursuing alternative routes for raising resources in view of turnarounds or for the development of their core business.
Andriani, an Italian producer of gluten-free pasta that owns the brands Felicia and Biorì, listed two minibonds on Milan ExtraMot Pro (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Mediobanca Fondo per le Imprese 2.0 entirely subscribed these bonds worth 6 million of euros, paying a 5.25% coupon and due to mature in 2022. Andriani will invest the proceeds of such issuance in support of its organic growth and working capital. The company equally belongs to Francesco and Michele Andriani, and last year posted 53.2 million euros of sales (40.9 millions in 2016), and an ebitda of 10.9 millions (8.3 millions).
Iris Capital Fund bv, the firm that belongs to Lebanese businessman Joe Seikaly, and Italian investors, are selling Lediberg, the Italian producer of high end stationery, to Italian entrepreneur Marzio Carrara and debt fund Pillarstone Italy that already owns a relevant portion of Lediberg’s debt (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Carrara is the main shareholder of Agh, an investors club that recently acquired Italian printing company Arti Group from German private equity Bavaria Industries Group. The Italian businessman aims to aggregate all these same-sector companies. Iris Fund acquired Lediberg from Italian private equity firm Synergo sgr and the Castelli family to implement a restructuring of the company’s debt. Last year the company posted sales of 125 million of euros.
IBL Banca, a Milan-listed consumer finance company, and Italian credit recovery company Europa Factor launched the joint venture Credit Factor for handling small ticket NPLs portfolios (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The newco is waiting for the authorization of Banca d’Italia, the Italian central bank, and may start its activity by the end of Summer 2018. Since the beginning of its activities in 2003, Europa Factor handled more than 8 billion of euros of credits, and acquired 2.3 billion of NPLs.
