Xenon acquires Koverlux from B4 Investimenti

The deal gives the company an EV of €15m, Unquote understands.

The vendors are B4 Investimenti, which sold its 53% stake and fully exited the investment, and the company's founders, Giuseppe and Luca Vittorio Cerea, who reinvested in the business.

B4 invested in Koverlux, at the time known as Centro Laser, in December 2016 via its €30m B4 Holding I vehicle. This is the second exit made by the fund, following its sale of Agrimaster in September 2017. According to the firm, the two divestments recorded an average cash multiple exceeding 4.5x the total invested capital, with a return of 1.5x to its investors.

The acquisition of Koverlux is part of Xenon's plan to create a platform in the fashion sector and follows shortly its purchase of leather producers A&A Pelli Pregiate, Zuma Pelli and Casadacqua di Santa Croce, and garnishment specialists Just Gators and Quake Ricami.

With the addition of Koverlux, the combined group will reach an EV of around €70-80m and expects to generate revenues of €37m and EBITDA of around €14m in 2019, Unquote understands. In addition, Xenon plans to ink a new acquisition in February 2020 by purchasing a company specialising in the production of components for fashion accessories, generating revenues of €18m and EBITDA of €4m.

Xenon has so far deployed an equity ticket of around €20m to build this platform. In addition, a debt package was provided by a pool of banks composed of Banco BPM, Crédit Agricole, Illimity Bank and Intesa Sanpaolo.

The GP drew capital from its seventh fund, which was recently closed on €300m. The fund deploys equity tickets in the €15-40m range in Italian mid-market companies generating revenues of €30-80m and EBITDA of €2-15m. Following this deal, the vehicle will be almost 30% deployed, Unquote understands.

Company
Based in Grumello del Monte, near Bergamo, Koverlux specialises in laser cutting and engraving on metals, leather and glass for the luxury fashion industry. The company generates EBITDA of €2.9m from revenues of €10m, Unquote understands.

People
Xenon Private Equity – Danilo Mangano (CEO); Franco Prestigiacomo (managing director).
B4 Investimenti – Fabrizio Baroni (managing partner).
Koverlux – Giuseppe Cerea (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – EY (financial due diligence, tax); King & Wood Mallesons (legal); Gelmetti Studio Legale Associato (legal); Fineurop Soditic (debt advisory).
Company – Studio Cattaneo Dall'Olio & Partners (legal).
Vendor – Gianni Origoni Grippo Cappelli & Partners (legal); PwC (financial due diligence).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Italy
• PwC
• EY (Ernst & Young)
• Fineurop Soditic
• King & Wood Mallesons