OpCapita buys Rossopomodoro owner Sebeto

The GP has bought a 95% stake in the business, in a deal that values the company at around €80m, which would equate to more than 12x the company's 2016 EBITDA, Unquote understands.

The fresh capital will be used to further improve the Rossopomodoro brand by strengthening its position within the Italian market and to expand Sebeto through new acquisitions.

OpCapita operating partner Stephen Alexander and managing director Joshua Spoerri will join the company's board and support the new CEO Roberto Colombo. Sebeto's founders Franco Manna and Pippo Montella will stay on with the company as chair and manager, respectively, and retain a minority stake.

OpCapita is deploying capital from Consumer Opportunities Fund II, which held a final close on its €350m hard-cap in September 2016.  

Sebeto is the third acquisition made by the fund and its first investment in Italy, after the acquisitions of UK gaming operator The Football Pools and Spanish footwear retailer Merkal Calzados.

Previous funding
The sale ends an eight-year holding period for Change Capital, which bought the business in 2010, deploying capital from its Change Capital Partners II fund in a deal that valued the company at €53.5m (almost 9x its 2009 EBITDA of €6.3m). The transaction was supported by a €20m debt package.

Change Capital acquired the business from the company's founders and PE firm Quadrivio, which owned a 47% stake. Following the deal, Sebeto's founders reinvested in the business buying a stake of approximately 30%, while Quadrivio retained a 7% holding.

Quadrivio acquired a 26.5% stake in Sebeto as part of an expansion deal in 2006 and increased its share to 47% in 2007, while the remaining 53% was divided between the founders and the management team, according to Unquote Data.

Company
Founded in 1988 and based in Naples, Sebeto operates five restaurant brands, including Rossopomodoro, Anema e Cozze, Rossosapore and Ham Holy Burger, with a total of more than 140 restaurants globally.

In 2016, Sebeto generated a €6.4m EBITDA from revenues of €136m. Rossopomodoro, its flagship chain, has 80 branches across Italy, Germany, Denmark, Turkey, the UK and the US.

People
OpCapita – Joshua Spoerri (managing director); Stephen Alexander (operating partner).
Change Capital Partners – Nico Iacuzzi (managing director).
Sebeto Group – Franco Manna (chair, co-founder)

Advisers
Equity – Lazard (M&A); Chiomenti (legal).
Company – Rothschild & Co (M&A); Studio Legale Ambrosino-Pecora (legal).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Buyouts
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Italy
• OpCapita
• Change Capital Partners
• Quadrivio
• Secondary buyout
• lazard
• Rothschild