Melitta Group Management bought 100% of Cuki spa, a market leader in Italy in the food packaging sector with Cuki and Domopak brands (download here the press release). The sellers are Pillarstone Italy, a private capital firm sponsored by Kkr and focuesd on the restructuring and relauch of companies in financial distress but still with a valid business model, and ceo and major shareholder Corrado Ariaudo, who is remaning as ceo of Cuki, with the task to implement sinergies with Melitta’s subsidiary Cofresco Frischhalteprodukte.
Mr. Ariaudo had bought Cuki (then called Comital Saiag) in 2010 from M&C, a Milan-listed holding company which back then was an investment veichle focused on distressed companies restructuring, founded by Carlo De Benedetti and of which Mr. Ariaudo had been ceo for a while. In 2015 Mr. Ariaudo sold the aluminum rolling activities of the group together with the Comital brand to Lamalu, an Italian subsidiary of French group Aedi. At the same time Comital spa was renamed as Cuki spa. Last June both Comital and Lamalu were declared bankrupt by the Ivrea Court in Italy.
Pillarstone Italy became Cuki’s main creditor after buying the packaging firm’s debt from Italy’s top two banks Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo at the end of 2015, together with debts of other five companies (Burgo, Orsero, Lediberg, Manucor e Alfa Park) from the same two banks and had securitized those credits through Pillarstone Italy spv srl (see here the announcement in Italy’s Official Journal). That was the first deal for Pilarstone Italy (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
The acquisition of 100% of Cuki will happen together with a complete refinancing of Cuki’s existing debt. “This deal completes with success the restructuring and development process implemented by the company with total respect of all stakeholders, reducing financila debt from 250 million euros in 2006 to actual 67 millions, which will be subject to refinancing with Melitta’s support”, Mr. Ariaudo said.
Cuki reached 200 million euros in revenues in 2017, of which about 25% produced abroad, and counts 503 employees. Melitta Group is 110 years old and is still family-owned. The group reached 1,54 billion euros in revenues in 2017, is Germany’s third-largest coffee roaster but it also owns various packaging brands.
