Progressio closes fund III on €250m hard-cap

Greg Gille
19 July 2019

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Italian mid-market private equity firm Progressio SGR has held a final close for Progressio Investimenti III on its €250m hard-cap.

The vehicle exceeded its €225m target, after a little more than two years on the road.

Progressio Investimenti III was launched in March 2017 with a €225m target and a €250m hard-cap, and held a first close on €86m in January 2018. It then held an interim close on €187m in February this year – at that point the GP expected it would hit its hard-cap for a final close in July 2019.

Cebile Capital acted as placement agent for Progressio, while law firms Legance - Avvocati Associati and Studio Di Tanno e Associati provided legal and tax advice, respectively.

Investors
The GP had raised commitments from 50 LPs at the time of the interim close in February. Around 68% of the capital raised in that close came from pension funds, insurance companies and banks, while the management committed 5% and the remainder was raised from family offices and high-net-worth individuals.

Approximately 21% of the LPs in the fund as of February this year were not Italian, which represents a higher proportion than that recorded at the end of the previous vehicle's fundraising.

Progressio stated that the majority of the capital raised came from new investors, while the GP itself committed 5%. The fund's LPs will be able to co-invest alongside the GP.

Investments
Progressio Investimenti III invests equity tickets of €25-30m in the mechanical engineering, fashion, luxuries, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and beverage sectors. It expects to make 10-12 investments in Italian companies generating revenues in the €30-150m range and EBITDA of €5-15m.

The fund has already made three investments: the acquisition of a 65% stake in animal-friendly coats designer Save the Duck in March 2018; an investment in packaging machinery manufacturer Gampack in February 2019; and the purchase of a stake in frozen foods specialist Gelit a few weeks ago.

The GP expects to close two additional investments before the end of Q3, after which approximately 40% will have been invested.

People
Progressio – Filippo Gaggini (managing partner).