Clessidra appoints new CEO and chair after death of founder Sposito

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Italian private equity firm Clessidra has appointed Francesco Trapani as chair and Maurizio Bottinelli as CEO, in the wake of the untimely death of founder and CEO Claudio Sposito.

60-year-old Sposito passed away on 11 January following a brief illness.

He founded the Milanese private equity firm in 2003 after a five-year stint as CEO of Fininvest, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's investment company. Sposito held various positions at Barclays, Citibank and Standard Chartered, and was a managing director at Morgan Stanley Italy for a decade.

In the first meeting of Clessidra's board since Sposito's death, executive vice-chairman Trapani's appointment as new chair was approved, as was the appointment of partner and head of the GP's investment team Maurizio Bottinelli as CEO.

The firm said the appointments of Trapani and Bottinelli as his successors had been envisaged and agreed to by Sposito himself.

Bottinelli joined Clessidra as a partner in 2007 from Apax Partners Milan, which he had helped found, after appointments at Monitor Company and Procter & Gamble.

Trapani has been the executive vice-chairman and operating partner at Clessidra since 2014. He joined the GP from luxury brands group LVMH where he was chair and CEO of the watches and jewelry division. Trapani had joined LVMH following time as the CEO of Bulgari.