Ardian backs paint-mixing machines business Corob

Alessia Argentieri
09 July 2018

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Ardian has acquired a majority stake in Corob from Italian GP Wise, which retained a minority holding in the business alongside the company's senior management team.

Unquote understands that Ardian deployed capital from its Ardian Expansion Fund IV to finance the acquisition. The vehicle held a final close in June 2016 on €1bn, surpassing its €650m original target. The fund was raised in less than nine months and is Ardian's largest expansion fund to date – twice the size of Expansion Fund III, closed on €500m in April 2014.

A debt package was provided by Unicredit to support the transaction.

Corob will use the fresh capital to accelerate its growth both organically and through new acquisitions, and to invest in the further expansion of its industrial plants and after-market service segments. Corob's management team, led by CEO and president Fernando Bertoni, will stay on with the company to ensure continuity of the business strategy.

The sale ends a two-year holding period for Wise, which fully acquired the company from Nordic Capital by deploying capital from its Wisequity IV fund. The fund launched in October 2015 and held a final close on its €215m hard-cap in March 2016. It invests €5-20m in companies with enterprise values ranging from €20-200m and turnover in the €40-50m bracket.

Under Wise's management, Corob grew and expanded by strengthening its industrial plants and by acquiring Canada-based Novaflow Systems in August 2017, and Spanish Corob Service in January 2018.

Previous funding
Corob was bought in 2002 by Finnish group CPS Color, which Nordic Capital acquired in 2008 via Fund VI. The GP then carved out the Italian Corob division into a separate entity in 2013.

Company
Established in 1984 and headquartered in San Felice sul Panaro, near Modena, Corob supplies a range of high-tech automated color dispensers and mixers used in the production of paints and coatings, inks and chemical substances. The company operates four production and engineering plants located in Italy, India, Canada and Finland, and 14 commercial and service centres. Corob has around 700 staff, 10% of whom are employed in R&D, and generated a turnover of €100m in 2017, of which 94% came from outside Italy.

People
Corob – Fernando Bertoni (CEO, president).
Ardian – Paolo Bergonzini (managing director, head of Ardian Expansion in Italy).
Wise – Valentina Franceschini (partner).

Advisers
Acquirer – KPMG (financial due diligence); Goetzpartners (corporate finance); Gattai Minoli Agostinelli Studio Legale (legal); Gitti and Partners (tax).
Vendor – EY (financial due diligence); Long Term Partners (corporate finance); Bonelli Erede (legal); Studio Spada (tax).