Private Equity firms are fully active again regarding fundraising, consolidation and transactions.
 Roberto Meneguzzo and his son Jacopo, tabled a bid of 85.5 million of euros together with Giorgio Drago for buying from Veneto Banca less than 10% of Sparta Holding, the SPV that in turn owns further shares of Palladio Finanziaria Holding itself, 9.8% of Palladio Finanziaria Holding and the shares that the troubled firm holds in private equity fund Vei Capital, in infrastructure investor Vgh (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Alessandro Leproux, Giuliana Scognamiglio, and Giuseppe Vidau, the professionals in charge of the special administration of Veneto Banca, hired Deloitte to sell the bank’s interests in Palladio, Vei, and Vgh. Drago and the Meneguzzos made an offer which is 0.5 million higher than the basic auction price. However, the bidders may withdraw their proposal if they don’t find satisfactory the governance of these assets.
Green Arrow Capital announced the final closing of 230.6 million of euros for its private equity fund (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Pension funds and institutional investors invested 90% of this amount, while the team of GAC and High Net Worth Individual (HNWI) provided the remaining 10%. GAC managers are Nicola Pietralunga,Francesca Gennaro and Roberto Giudici, while Luca Chiabrera is an associate of the firm.
Investindustrial and The Carlyle Group signed an even alliance for creating a pole of European high-end interior design companies that will generate revenues of 500 million of euros (see here a previous post by BeBeez). This pool will initially include three companies that belong to Investindustrial: B&B Italia, Flos, and Louis Poulsen. Carlyle and Investindustrial will support the growth of these firms through M&A. The Busnelli family and Piero Gandini, part owners and founders of respectively B&B Italia and Flos, will hold a minority of this initiative. B&B Italia recently acquired Azucena, an iconic Italian furniture brand, that Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Ignazio Gardella, andCorrado Corradi Dell’Acqua founded (See here a previous post by BeBeez). Marco De Benedetti, managing director and co-head of The Carlyle Europe Partners, said that the high-end design sector has an interesting perspective of long-term growth.
NB Aurora cashed a capital gain of 8.9 million of euros out of the sale of a minority in Megadyne, an Italian producer of industrial belts (See here a previous post by BeBeez). NBA’s gains from its exits currently amount to 21.7 million. French In 2014, Private Equity firm Astorg Partners acquired the majority of Megadyne from  Fondo Italiano d’Investimento and the Tadolini Family. Megadyne has sales of 298.9 million, an ebitda of 61.9 million, and a net financial debt of 201.3 million. On the ground of these figures, Megadyne’s enterprise value is currently in the region of 880 million or 14.3 X ebitda. In 2014, the value of the business was of between 400 and 450 million, while Astorg invested 250 million in equity for acquiring the company.
Private equity firm Arcadia acquired 75% of Castello Italia, a producer of industrial pipes and tubes from Chemical Project Holding (CPH) (See here a previous post by BeBeez). CPH will keep a 25% of the business that acquired in 2000. Castello generates abroad 80% of its sales worth 17 million euros, with a 15% ebitda. This year, the company foresees to generate revenues of 22 million. Fausto Lanfranco, business partner of Arcadia, will be the chairman of Castello. Guido Belli and Simone Arnaboldi, which both previously worked for Bridgepoint Italia, founded Arcadia. Further members of the firm are Alessandro Grassi, director, and Giovanni Barbujani, investment manager. Lanfranco and Castello’s managers will invest resources for a 3% of the company. Pierluigi Testa will keep his role as ceo of Castello, while Frédéric Hepineuze will be part of the company’s board. Arcadia didn’t leverage the target. Arcadia has raised 65 million ahead of a target of 100 million and generated a 12% net Irr.
