It is official, the French group Lactalis has conquered Nuova Castelli, the main exporter of Parmesan cheese, today 80% controlled by Charterhouse Capital Partners. The announcement of the signing of a binding agreement was given yesterday, after the Italian group had been looking for months for a new investor who might inject fresh resources for 40-50 million euros in order to rebalance the financial situation and continue to support the growth (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
Over the years, Lactalis has already bought the Italian brands Parmalat, Locatelli, Invernizzi, Galbani and Cadermartori and holds about one third of the national market in strategic sectors of the dairy sector.
The dossier had raised the interest of a series of private equity operators, among which, it is said, Capvest, Oxy Capital and QuattroR and Italmobiliare, but also of industrial groups, including Lactalis, but also Granarolo.
In 2018 Nuova Castelli had a turnover of 460 million euros, with 27 millions in ebitda and 190 million net financial debt, of which 100 millions guaranteed to banks with forms of Parmesan cheese.
The Charterhouse fund had acquired 80% of Nuova Castelli in 2014 for 350 million euros, based on a 2013 turnover of around 290 million, an ebitda of 37 million and a net financial debt of 110 million, with the remaining 20% that had remained in the hands of the entrepreneur Dante Bigi (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
