Centerbridge floats BFF in Milan

Centerbridge was the sole selling shareholder and beneficiary of the transaction. The float included the sale of a 31.16% stake by the GP, which could raise up to 35.83% if the greenshoe option is exercised.

The 72 institutional investors that participated in the offering included 20 Italian and 52 international investors. These requested an aggregate of 88.2 million shares based on the offer price of 470 cents apiece, at the bottom of the 470-590 initial range.

The company reached a market cap of €800m and the GP expects to reap total proceeds of €250m, without taking into account the greenshoe option. The company will start trading on the Milan stock exchange on 7 April 2017.

Mediobanca, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. BNP Paribas, Jefferies International and UniCredit Corporate & Investment Banking acted as joint bookrunners, while Banca Akros acted as co-lead manager.

Previous funding
Centerbridge acquired a controlling stake in the business in April 2015 from Apax Partners in a deal valuing the company at €500m EV. According to unquote" data, the deal awarded Apax with returns of between 5.4-5.6x. Apax had acquired Banca Farmafactoring in late 2006.

Company
Established in 1985 and headquartered in Milan, BFF is a banking group active principally in the industrial sector. The group includes three brands: Banca Farmafactoring, Farmafactoring España and Magellan. The company is active in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The group generates €88m in consolidated revenues and employs a staff of 409.

People
BFF Banking Group – Massimiliano Belingheri (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Linklaters (legal); Santa Maria Studio Legale Associato (legal).
Company – Gattai Minoli Agostinelli & Partners (legal); White & Case (legal).
Bookrunners – Clifford Chance (legal).

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