Riello Investimenti backs First Advisory

A debt package was provided by Banco BPM to support the deal.

The vendors are the company's founders and managers Massimiliano Merlo, Giuseppe Frasca and Lorenzo Fanti, who collectively owned 60%; and Ninja 2, a club deal of private investors that controlled 40%. Following the deal, both the founders and Ninja 2 will reinvest in the company and retain a minority holding.

Riello invested via its Italian Strategy Fund, which was launched in June 2018 with a €150m target and held a €50m first close in June 2019. The GP told Unquote that the fund has raised €70m so far and its final close might be delayed following the coronavirus outbreak.

The vehicle targets majority and controlling minority stakes in Italian SMEs with enterprise values of €10-120m, operating in the fashion, food, automotive, furniture and cosmetic sectors. The vehicle deploys equity tickets in the €5-30m range in buyout transactions with moderate leverage – around 3-3.5x EBITDA.

Company
Established in 2010 and headquartered in Milan, First Advisory is an insurance broker specialising in life insurance.

It has partnerships with numerous Italian and international insurance companies, including Allianz, Zurich Insurance, Unipol, Italiana Assicurazoni, Crédit Agricole Life Insurance and Swiss Life.

First Advisory generated EBITDA of € 4.2m in 2019. 

People
Riello Investimenti Partners – Nicola Riello (chair).
First Advisory – Massimiliano Merlo, Giuseppe Frasca, Lorenzo Fanti (co-founders, managers).

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• Buyouts
• Southern Europe
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• Riello Investimenti
• Italy