Private capital ask the Italian Government to facilitate their investments in the real economy of Italy, Anna Gervasoni, the general manager of AIFI, the Italian Association of Private Equity, Venture Capital and Private Debt investors, said to BeBeez (see here a previous article by BeBeez). First of all, there is a theme of access to private capital products by non-professional private investors. Private banking in Italy manages 844 billion euros, against 750 billions by insurance companies and 250 billion by pension funds, but only 3.9 billion euros of private banking capital is invested in private markets, that is 0.25% of the total, compared to about 1% of the capital managed by insurance companies and pension funds invested in private assets. The calculation is by AIPB, the Italian Private Banking Association, which also says that of those 3.9 billions, only 1.7 billions are invested in Italian private assets (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Here there are two things to do. First, the Italian Government had introduced a tax incentive for 2020 for ELTIFs (European Long Term Investment Funds) as well as for the PIRs (investment funds dedicated to retail investors, with a specific focus on Italian real economy). The tax incentive is in the form of a tax exemption of capital gains for natural persons who subscribe ELTIFs (see here a previous article by BeBeez). “Unfortunately, however, to date the application of this rule is not possible, because until a few weeks ago the formal request (notification) had not been made to the European Commission, to ensure that it is not considered State aid. At the moment there is an open dialogue and therefore we hope that the matter will be resolved shortly, “explained Gervasoni, who also hopes that the meassure will be proposed again for 2021. If the measure becomes active, therefore, a greater amount of savings could be channeled into illiquid investments to support Italian SMEs. In particular, in this case it would be the saving of private banking, given that in general ELTIFs provide for minimum investment tickets of 100k euros. Linked to this point is the one of the minimum investment threshold in reserved alternative funds (see here a previous article by BeBeez). The latter, unlike ELTIFs, do not have to follow precise criteria in their investment policies and for this reason they are considered more risky, with the consequence that in Italy they are precisely reserved for certain categories of investors. “Today the minimum investment ticket envisaged for these funds is 500k euros, but this figure is not written anywhere in European legislation. It was a purely Italian choice, which therefore could be changed without even a law provision, but a simple ministerial intervention “, said Gervasoni, again stressing that” if for example the threshold in question was raised to 100k or 200k euros, without prejudice to the 10% share of the total assets that can be invested in illiquid assets for private customers, then anyone with 2 million euros of assets under management with a private bank could invest his 200k euros in private assets and would unlock a huge amount of savings in favor of private capital ”. Alternatively, added Gervasoni, “it could be imagined to create, for the purposes of investment in reserved funds, a new category of investors that is among private individuals and professionals, as already done by Consob for investment in minibonds offered on equity crowdfunding platforms in its latest revision of the Regulations on crowdfunding platforms (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
Italy’s tlc group Tim “has guaranteed an exclusive talks period to the KKR Infrastructure fund as financial partner for the development of the fiber network in Italy, following the presentation of a non-binding offer for the purchase of approximately 40% of the secondary network fiber/ copper by Tim and in view of the desired integration with Open Fiber (see here a previous article by BeBeez) . Tim’s ceo Luigi Gubitosi explained in conference call to analysts that this transaction will consist in the establishment of a wholesale newco, called FiberCop, in which Tim will bring the secondary fiber and copper network, from the cabinets up to at home. For the purposes of the transaction with KKR, the asset was valued at 7.5 billion, including the debt. The transaction, Mr. Gubitosi explained in the conference call, represents a first step towards a possible integration with OpenFiber, today jointly controlled by Enel and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and which has been discussed for months. KKR is also one of the funds interested in buying 25% of Inwit (Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane) spa, the company that owns Tim’s mobile phone towers listed on Piazza Affari, which will incorporate and merge with Vodafone Towers srl, the company that owns the Vodafone’s mobile phone towers.
Ambienta is holding exclusive negotiations for acquiring IT italiana Namirial on the ground of an enterprise value in the region of 150 million euros (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Namirial previously attracted the interest of Marlin Equity Partners and Clessidra. Enrico Giacomelli (vice president) and Claudio Gabellini (chairman), founded the company in 2000 and equally own it. In October 2019, Namirial acquired a stake in Serban Biometrics. The company has sales of 49.3 million euros, an ebitda of 7.83 million, and net cash of 0.882 million. Ambienta is one of the private capital investors that BeBeez Private Data monitors. Find out here how to subscribe for the Combo version that includes BeBeez News Premium.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Montagu, Téthys Invest, and Bpifrance are finalizing the acquisition of Italian school for fashion designers Istituto Marangoni, which has branches in China, India, and the US, from Providence Equity Partners (See here a previous post by BeBeez). Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Téthys will hold 40% of the asset each. Téthys Invest belongs to the Bettencourt Meyers Family, the main shareholder of French Cosmetic giant L’Oréal. In February 2019, Providence hired Goldman Sachs and Rothschild for selling the asset that acquired in 2011 from US-listed Career Education Corporation. In 2017, Providence added Domus Academy and Naba to Gruppo Galileo the vehicle that owns Istituto Marangoni and a total of 42 schools based in ten different countries. In October 2019 Galileo borrowed 700 million euros to repay by 2026. The company invested such proceeds for refinancing its debt, carrying on acquisitions and paying a 90 million dividend. The company also received a revolving credit line of 100 million to repay by 2026. Galileo has an enterprise value of 2.5 billion, on the ground of an ebitda of 130-140 million.
Pregis, a packaging company that belongs to Warburg Pincus, acquired Italian competitor Soprad (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Fiorenzo Roncari is the chairman of Soprad which has revenues of 13.6 million euros and an ebitda of 1.8 million with net financial debt of 0.8 million. The company will sell its products with PolyMask, a brand of Pregis, whose chairman and ceo is Kevin Baudhuin. This has been the first acquisition for the company since Warburg Pincus acquired a controlling stake of the business in 2019.
Italian insurance broker Mansutti raised its 20% in Scala e Mansutti Broker (SMB) to 75% (see here a previous post by BeBeez). SMB has sales of 1.72 million euros and an ebitda of 0.130 million. In October 2017, Mansutti invested in insurtech Yolo together with Barcamper Ventures and Miro Ventures and in July 2019 it launched Mansutti Innovation Center an incubator for insurance startups
For 2019 Sia, the Italian provider of IT infrastructures for financial services of which Cdp Equity has a controlling stake, posted sales of 733.2 million euros (+19.3% yoy) with an ebitda of 257.9 million (+28.1%), an adjusted ebitda of 257.7 million (+28.1%), and net profits of 95.6 million (+24.7%) (See here a previous post by BeBeez). On 9 April 2020, Sia’s board of directors will ask the shareholder whether they agree on paying a dividend of 0,35 euros per shares (60 million). The company paid dividends for 60 million in 2018, 59.9 million in 2017, 44.55 million in 2016, 49.69 million in 2015, and 35.68 million for 2014. Sia hired JP Morgan as the financial advisor for M&A and IPO. The company may list in 3Q20 and achieve a market capitalization of 4 billion after the launch of a capital increase through ipo of 1-1.5 billion, according to market rumours consistent with previous articles of BeBeez. However, a listing is not the only option for Sia. Earlier in January, a Goldman Sachs report said that the company’s enterprise value is of 3-3.5 billion if it merged with Nexi. Federico Lovadina is Sia’s chairman. Sia is a company monitored by BeBeez Private Data (find out how to subscribe for only 110 euros a month).
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