FII holds first closes for PE and VC vehicles

The firm held a €150m first close for its new private equity-focused vehicle, Innovazione e Sviluppo (FII I&S), and a €50m first close for FII Tech Growth (FII TG), a later stage-dedicate venture capital fund.

FII I&S has a €700m target and is the successor to FII's eponymous maiden private equity fund, which raised €720m in commitments and is now fully deployed. Unlike its successor, the first vehicle primarily targeted minority acquisitions.

FII TG is the firm's first venture capital-dedicated vehicle and has a €150m target.

FII also has three fund-of-funds under management: one dedicated to private equity funds (FoF PE), one that invests in venture capital firms (FoF VC) and one focusing on private debt fund managers (FoF PD).

In June 2017, Tikehau Capital and Italmobiliare submitted a binding offer to fully acquire the LP interests in FII's 22 existing portfolio companies. However, later that month, Neuberger Berman entered exclusive talks with FII to acquire the whole portfolio. A source familiar with the matter told unquote" that NB's offer was close to the €305m figure cited in other media reports.

According to a source familiar with the situation, Credit Suisse is leading the auction process for the assets.

Investors
Italy's sovereign fund Cassa Depositi e Prestiti acted as cornerstone investor, injecting the whole capital needed for the present first closes. Furthermore, the GP expects Italian institutional investors to commit further capital to the two funds.

Investments
Private equity vehicle FII I&S will follow a buy-and-build investment strategy across the Italian market, according to a source familiar with the situation. It will primarily focus on the agricultural, industrial machinery and design sectors.

The fund targets Italian SMEs with revenues in excess of €70m and aims to invest equity tickets in the €30-40m bracket, the source said.

FII TG will focus on the technology, media and telecommunications space. The fund focuses on Italian companies with turnovers between €7-20m and aims to inject equity tickets of €5-15m, the source said.

Both vehicles will follow the industry's standards in terms of fees, unquote" understands.

People
Fondo Italiano d'Investimento (FII I&S) – Gianpaolo Di Dio (senior partner); Francesco Mazzone (partner); Marianna Castiglioni, Filippo Monti, Andrea Pavesi (senior investment managers); Giuseppe Scaturro, Pamela di Marzo, Francesca Elia, Pierpaolo Quarato (investment managers); Guido Figliola (senior associate); Alessandro Candido (analyst).
Fondo Italiano d'Invesitmento (FII TG) – Caludio Catania, Mauro Pretolani (senior partners); Federico Cappellin (analyst).

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• Topics
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• Fondo Italiano di Investimento