Italian mid-market private equity operator Quadrivio sgr sold Fine Sounds group to LBO France and Yarpa ( this is the fifth coinvestment deal for these two private equity operators) and to the company management. Fine Sounds group gathers the best brands of high end audio equipment. It includes top players such as Sonus Faber, McIntosch, Wadia, Sumiko e Audio Research (download here the Italian press release).
The deal valued the group at a 9x ebitda multiple, MF-Milano Finanza writes today. Fine Sounds group reached a 16 million dollars ebitda in 2013 and 85 millions in revenues (more than 70% coming from exports) with 30 millions of net financial debt- The deal has been financed by US banks.
Supporting Quadrivio sgr for the deal were Rothschild as a financial advisor and Pedersoli e Associati and Lindquist & Vennum law firms, while Zulli Tabanelli e Associati advised the fund on fiscal issues. LBO France and Yarpa were advised by NCTM and Morrison & Foerster law firms and by Deloitte on financial matters.
Fine Sounds group has been built by Quadrivio in seven years’ time starting in 2007 with a first investment in the Italian high end audio speakers producer Sonus Faber. After that Quadrivio started an acquisition campaign in the US.
it bought Audio Research, leader in the production and sales of audio electronic components high-definition vacuum-tubes (valves) and solid state. In 2010 it was the turn of Wadia Digital, one of the first companies dedicated to high-performance digital audio playback, which has been at the forefront in technology for Apple iPod and iPhone docking stations, In 2011 Sumiko was acquired, an importer and distributor of the best audio components in North America. Finally in 2012 Fine Sounds Group purchased McIntosh Laboratory, the most important American producer of high fidelity systems, world leader in prestigious home entertainment systems and for over 60 years in highest quality audio systems. McIntosh is famous in the world for having been used by Jimi Hendrix in the first Woodstock concert.
