Sun European Partners buys Vetrerie Riunite

Unquote understands that the deal gives the company an enterprise value of €109m, which equates to around 6.8x its 2018 EBITDA.

Vetrerie Riunite CEO Luca Poggi will reinvest alongside the GP and retain a minority stake in the business.

This is the first transaction made by the firm via Sun Capital Partners Fund VII, which held a final close on $2.3bn in July 2019, surpassing its $2.2bn target. Unquote understands that the vehicle invests in companies based in western, northern and southern Europe, operating in the industrial, business services and consumer sectors, with EV of at least €100m. It deploys equity tickets in the €50-300m range and makes co-investments with its LPs for larger deals.

Sun European Partners intends to roll over the existing €77m debt package received by the company in February 2019 from Unicredit and Banco BPM. In addition, the GP might support future bolt-on acquisitions with additional debt, Unquote understands.

Vetrerie Riunite was put on the market in July 2019 and attracted interest from several financial buyers. Sun European Partners saw off competition from Italian investor Vam Investments, US-based private equity firm Opengate Capital and UK-headquartered GP Abbeydale Partners. 

The GP intends to boost Vetrerie Riunite's organic growth and pursue a buy-and-build strategy with complementary acquisitions in different geographies, including Asia, according to Sun European Partners managing director Mark Corbidge.

The sale ends an 11-year holding period for Italian GPs Opera and Style Capital (at the time known as DGPA), which acquired a 52% and 24% stake in Vetrerie Riunite, respectively. The remaining 24% was held by the company's founders and vendors, who reinvested in the business. The financing of the deal was structured and provided by Popolare di Verona and the transaction valued the company at around €112m.

Company
Founded in 1905 and headquartered in Colognola ai Colli, Vetrerie Riunite specialises in the production of technical glass for washing-machine windows, refractory rollers used in the production of ceramic tiles, and slabs and luxury glass tableware. It generated EBITDA of around €16m from revenues of €110m in 2018.

People
Sun European Partners – Mark Corbidge (managing director).
Vetrerie Riunite – Luca Matteo Villa (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – PwC (financial due diligence); Giliberti Triscornia e Associati (legal); Kirkland & Ellis (legal).
Vendor – NCTM Studio Legale (legal); Poggi & Associati (tax); Alantra (corporate finance).

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• Sun European Partners
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• Kirkland & Ellis