Azimut completes Futurimpresa acquisition with 45% stake purchase

Following an initial acquisition of a 55% stake in August 2014, Azimut purchased the remaining 45% stake in the GP – the former investment arm of the Chambers of Commerce of Milan, Bergamo, Brescia and Como – for €2m.

Futurimpresa manages the Finanza e Sviluppo Impresa vehicle, a €70m venture fund established in 2010. The fund commits an average equity ticket of €5m to firms with a turnover of €10-50m across all sectors. As part of the initial acquisition, Azimut also incorporated its minibond-focused vehicle Antares AZ I to the platform and subsequently its pre-booking and SPAC-dedicated fund IPO Club.

The asset manager aims to support Futurimpresa in becoming a sponsor for Italian SMEs from early-stage funding to the final listing.

The last two investments Futurimpresa made came in 2015, when it acquired a 44.3% stake in Lisapharma, an Italian pharmaceutical business, via its Finanza e Sviluppo Impresa fund in July. As part of the all-equity deal, private equity house Arcadia bought a 53.7% stake, while the Zagnoli family fully exited the business. That same month, the GP also acquired a majority stake in Italian restaurant chain Fine Food Group and currently has four assets in its portfolio, including the two minority holdings retained in Officina Farmaceutica Italiana and Objectway.

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• Topics
• GPs
• Southern Europe
• Italy