Clessidra on track for 2023 final close for debut private debt fund

Ero Partsakoulaki
27 January 2023

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Italian sponsor Clessidra Capital Credit is aiming for a 2023 final close for its first private debt vehicle on EUR 250m, having raised EUR 150m so far.

The fund held a first close on EUR 130m in March 2022. The strategy aims to support Italian SMEs through debt instruments.

Although it has an expected return of around 10% IRR, the management team is now revising this upwards in the face of competition from public markets and high-yield bonds, managing director Roberto Ippolito told Unquote.

"That said, any credit strategy is facing some sort of competition in the current market environment – even the Italian sovereign bond is yielding 4% all of a sudden," he added.

Fundraising has been progressing well and despite a ‘softening' during the second half of 2022, Ippolito is optimistic for the final close. Fondo Italiano d'Investimento is the cornerstone investor with the majority of remaining LP's coming from Italy. The next fundraising phase is targeting tickets from both local and international investors, he said.

The vehicle has been investing around EUR 12m per transaction so far, but as fundraising progresses, it is now committing around EUR 15m. This is expected to reach between EUR 20m-25m by the final closing, he added.

One third of the fund has already been committed through four investments, worth EUR 50m in total, said Ippolito.

The fund is mainly targeting lower-mid market companies in need of growth capital but seeking an alternative to private equity, he said. The fund will also support ESG integration and sustainable growth of its portfolio companies, he added.

In November 2022, the GP merged Casa de Dolce, an Italian jelly beans and sweets producer, with its competitor Liking, into a new entity named Candy Factory. Clessidra's credit strategy will support a buy-and-build strategy for the Italian sweets producer both organically and through M&A, sister publication Mergermarket reported. The fund also committed to support the growth of the Italian shoes group Mgm in the same month.

It also invested in December 2022 in Italy-based construction and entertainment lighting towers producer Trime, and the Italian fashion business Gruppo Florence.