After the USA, following the Russian attack on Ukraine, already on February 24th adopted sanctions against Sberbank and VTB Bank (see here the press release of the US Treasury) and after that subsequently with a joint statement on Saturday 26 February the Commission Europe, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States have announced that they will oust some selected Russian banks from the SWIFT system (see the EU press release here), it is time to draw a map of Russian private equity holdings in Italian companies and of Italian private companies financed by Russian investors, given that a radiography as for Italian banks and listed companies is well known (see for example this summary article by StartMagazine).
On the private equity front, there is a deal announced just the day before the attack on Ukraine, which involved Cotril spa, an Italian manufacturer of luxury hair cosmetics, since 2019 in the portfolio of the private equity fund MIR Capital, a joint venture between Intesa Sanpaolo and Gazprombank (see here a previous article by BeBeez). The company has in fact acquired the majority of Tecna Italia, a haircare company and a point of reference in bioethical cosmetics (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Last January, another portfolio company of the fund, Gesa srl, the holding company that owns the Cioccolatitaliani, Bun Burgers and Pizzeria Italiana Espressa bar and restaurants chains, acquired control of the pizzerias Fra Diavolo from the two founders Mauro D’Errico and Gianluca Lotta, who maintained operational management (see here a previous article by BeBeez). In July 2021, Gesa had also acquired the Bun Burgers chain of hamburger shops. The fund had previously bought a 45% stake of the capital of Gesa in July 2019 (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
MIR Capital was established at the end of 2012 as part of the cooperation agreement signed between Gazprombank and Intesa Sanpaolo, which participate equally (see here the press release of the time). The fund aims to promote the development of industrial and commercial relations between Italy and Russia, for the benefit of the companies of excellence of the two countries. In June 2013 it then acquired a minority stake in Packer Service Group, a Russian company specializing in the supply of hi-tech services and solutions to major oil and gas producers worldwide (see here a previous article by BeBeez). In October of the same year it acquired from Imi Investimenti sgr part of the minority package of LimaCorporate spa, one of the main operators in the design, production and distribution of orthopedic prostheses (see here a previous article by BeBeez), then resold to EQT in December 2015 (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
Speaking of Gazprom, the Russian oil & gas giant and the parent company of Gazprombank, we recall that last January Antonio Fallico, chairman of Banca Intesa Russia, during a conference on Italian-Russian economic relations in Genoa, said that the Gazprom has a ” strong interest in a more organic relationship with Ansaldo Energia“, which is controlled by Italy’s Cdp Equity and China’s Shanghai Electric. Fallico had explained that Gazprom would be interested in a “shareholding partnership” and invited the Genoese company, and its shareholder Cdpi, “to have clear ideas to understand what may be the agreements that allow the Russians to enter as shareholders “. It would be an alliance, said Fallico, which “would create great opportunities in the gas and nuclear sectors, in which Russia is at the forefront” (see here Il Secolo XIX). Obviously this hypothesis is no more realistic at the moment. We recall that Ansaldo Energia concluded a capital increase and simultaneous debt refinancing in Spring 2020 (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
Another well-known Russian private equity investment in an Italian company is Renova‘s in Octo Telematics, the leading provider of telematics services and advanced data analytics solutions for the insurance and smart mobility sectors. Octo Telematics is in fact 48.55% controlled by Renova, through NES Investments sarl, which is headed by oligarch Viktor Vekselberg and is 25% owned by chairman Sir John Peace and co-founder Fabio Sbianchi; and 26.5% by the Pamplona fund, through PHM Topco 23 sarl (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Renova had initially bought 100% of Octo Telematics in February 2014 from the Charme fund and its co-investors Amadeus Capital Partners and Keensight Capital, while the management had re-invested for 5% (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
Renova subsequently sold a stake to the Pamplona fund. Finally, in April 2018, Mr. Peace and Mr. Sbianchi had increased their stake by 20%, buying the stake from Renova, in order to make Octo Telematics independent from the Russian group and therefore not incur the new sanctions imposed by the US against Russia and therefore even against Renova. The operation carried out by the two managers had taken place suddenly, only a little over a month after the publication of the usual letter to the shareholders from Tamburi Investment Partners, which in 2015 had signed an 8 million euro convertible loan issued by Tefindue spa, the company owned by Octo’s top managers. In that letter, TIP confirmed the rumors about an imminent listing of the company (see here a previous article by BeBeez). However, since then there has been no mention of ipo, while in April 2021 there were rumors about a possible sale of the group (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Meanwhile, in December 2019 Octo bought the entire share capital of the British Nebula Systems Ltd, a company specializing in the development of advanced cloud technologies for the automotive and connected car industry, of which it already owned a minority (see here a previous article by BeBeez ). Octo Group, which includes Octo Telematics Italia srl and 25% of Infoblu, specialized in the use of GPS data for traffic information purposes and in the analysis of Big Data to support traffic information both for Public Administrations and for motorway concessionaires, closed FY 2020 with 165.9 million euros of net revenues (from 196.9 million in 2019), 38.6 million ebitda (from 44.2 million) and 11.2 million euros of liquidity net (from 5 million) (see here the Leanus Report, after registering for free). The net financial position of the group also includes a 14 million euro minibond issued in 2020, which for 12 millions was guaranteed by Sace Simest and securitized to enter the Export Basket Bond, the 500 million euro bond issue program dedicated to companies belonging to the Elite community of Borsa Italiana, who want to finance investments for their internationalization. The abs were underwritten by Cdp (anchor investor), Banca del Mezzogiorno – Mediocredito Centrale and Confidi Systema! (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
Renova and Gazprom had been also owners of Eviva, a company active in the energy sector especially in Northern Italy between Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, which ended up in liquidation in 2018, after the company found itself having to face a severe liquidity crisis (see La Repubblica here).
Also Viktor Vekselberg years ago bought the Grand Hotel Villa Feltrinelli Gargnano, on Lake Garda, the former residence of Benito Mussolini during the Social Republic. The hotel is currently owned by a holding company in Cyprus, Camerlex Holdings Limited.
And still on the subject of hotels, a year ago the Russian entrepreneur Mikhail Kusnirovich (founder in 1992 of the Bosco di Ciliegi group, active in luxury retail and in the production of sports and leisure clothing), bought the historic hotel Lido Palace in Baveno (Verbano-Cusio-Ossola) with the aim of renovating it and renaming it Bosco Palace Hotel. The D’Amico family, who owned and managed it since 1980, sold the hotel in a panoramic position overlooking the Borromean Gulf (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Kusnirovich is also the head of several Russian department stores, including the very famous GUM on Moscow’s Red Square, featuring an entire floor dedicated to gastronomy, including Italian. The entrepreneur himself is a great patron and admirer of Italian culture and lifestyle and has financed numerous concerts, opera, prose and ballet performances, art exhibitions and publications on Italy. In 2006 his name was also linked to that of the Turin Olympics, when he dressed the athletes of the Russian national team with the Bosco Sport brand.
Remaining on the subject of real estate, then, we recall that last January the Green Fund One, managed by Castello sgr (owned by Oaktree), secured a 40 million euro loan from the Russian banking giant VTB Bank to be used for the purchase of the multipurpose real estate complex Innovation Campus Milan, the first example of a campus in Italy built according to the American LEED certification criteria. VTB Bank, also arranger of the operation (see here a previous article by BeBeez). The loan was made in the context of the transfer of the Innovation Campus from the Gennaker fund, also managed by Castello sgr, to the Green Fund One, with the latter taking over a portion of the debt.
VTB Bank is also an important investor in Delimobil Holding sa, one of the pioneers of the car sharing market in Russia, with the brands Delimobil, Anytime and Anytime.Prime, founded in Moscow in 2015 by the Italian banker Vincenzo Trani, who last year cashed in a 75 million dollars round subscribed by JSC VTB Capital, the investment arm of VTB Group, acquiring 15% of the company (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Mr. Trani, former senior advisor of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Russia, as well as being founder and president of Delimobil, is also founder and chairman of Mikro Kapital, in turn the majority shareholder of Delimobil. Mirko Kapital is a management company under Luxembourg law specializing in impact finance and microfinance, which in March 2017 obtained the first license granted to a private institution for micro-credit in Italy from the Bank of Italy (see here a previous article by BeBeez). The Italian license followed those of Mikro Kapital in Russia, Belarus, Romania, Moldavia and Armenia. Returning to Delimobil, at the beginning of November it was ready for listing on the NYSE but then suddenly turned it apart (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Delimobil, which sees former Italian premier Matteo Renzi, leader of the Italia Viva party, as a member of the board of directors since last August 2021 (page 182 of the filing filed with the SEC), aimed to raise up to 240 million dollars in its ipo in New York , equal to a market capitalization of approximately 913 million dollars (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
