Alto Partners acquires Bia

Unquote understands that the deal gives the company an enterprise value of around €20m, which equates to 9x its 2018 EBITDA.

The GP acquired a 95% stake, while the remaining 5% was retained by Gescad, a company directly controlled by Bia CEO Luciano Pollini, who will continue to lead the business.

This is the third investment made by Alto Capital IV, which held a final close on its €210m hard-cap in April 2018. The vehicle invests in Italian SMES generating revenues within the €20-80m bracket and deploys equity tickets in the €15-25m range. Unquote understands that the fund is now more than 20% deployed.

Company
Founded in 2004 and based in Argenta, near Ferrara, Bia specialises in the production and distribution of couscous. The company produces a broad range of couscous varieties including organic couscous, whole grains, durum wheat, red lentils and chickpea couscous. It sells its products both under its own brands and to larger industrial players and retailers.

The company employs 56 staff and generated an EBITDA margin of around 8% and revenues of €27m in 2018, of which approximately 60% came from outside Italy.

People
Alto Partners - Marco Pellegrino (director).

Advisers
Equity - NASaW Studio Legale (legal); Athena Audit (tax); GEA (financial due diligence).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Alto Partners
• Italy