Platinum buys De Wave from Xenon

The company's management will reinvest in the business and retain a minority stake.

A debt package was provided by a pool of banks composed of MPS Capital Service, Banco BPM, UBI Banca and Banca Ifis, Unquote understands.

The GP is currently investing from its $6.5bn global buyout fund, Platinum Equity Capital Partners IV, and from Platinum Equity Small Cap Fund, a $1.5bn buyout vehicle focused on investment opportunities in the lower-mid-market, specifically companies with revenues of up to $450m and EBITDA up to $45m.

Platinum Equity intends to support De Wave's continued growth both organically and through additional acquisitions, and by expanding its product offering into new segments of the value chain.

Platinum Equity's acquisition of De Wave is the first in Italy and follows several deals made by the American GP in Europe, including Spanish seafood provider Iberconsa, bought in June 2019, and Wyndham's European vacation rental business, acquired for $1.3bn.

The deal ends a four-year holding period for Xenon, which bought a majority stake in the company via its €184m Xenon Private Equity VI fund. The management team reinvested in the business and retained a 3% stake at the time.

Company
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Genoa, De Wave is a marine contractor that specialises in designing and manufacturing cruise ship interiors, providing both new and refit services to ship builders and cruise operators. It also offers extensive upgrade and maintenance services for the full lifecycle of its customers' vessels. De Wave operates five facilities located in Italy, Poland, Singapore and the US, and generates EBITDA of €20m from revenues of €160m.

People
Platinum Equity – Louis Samson (partner).
Xenon Private Equity – Franco Prestigiacomo (managing director).
De Wave – Giovanni Battisa Bozzo (CEO).

Advisers
Acquirer – Brera Financial Advisory (corporate finance); Deloitte (financial due diligence); EY (tax); Latham & Watkins (legal).
Vendor – Fineurop Soditic (corporate finance); Pavia e Ansaldo Studio Legale (legal).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Exits
• Italy
• Platinum Equity
• Secondary buyout