Mandarin Capital acquires ABC Morini

The deal was made via Mandarin's aggregation platform Margot.

Following the acquisition, CEO Monica Morini, the daughter of founder Marcello Morini, will reinvest part of the proceeds and acquire a minority stake in the group.

The GP deployed capital from Mandarin Capital III, which has raised €175m so far. The vehicle has a €250m target and a €300m hard-cap and typically invests in companies with EV in the €30-70m range and EBITDA of €3-7m, operating in a wide range of sectors, including mechanical engineering, chemicals, cosmetics and food. It deploys equity tickets of €15-20m and follows up with additional capital injections to finance a buy-and-build strategy up to €30m per portfolio company.

In addition to the equity deployed by the fund and Margot’s minority shareholders, a debt package was provided by Cassa Centrale Banca to support the acquisition.

Margot was established in October 2019 when Mandarin acquired Eurmoda, an Italian manufacturer of metal and leather accessories for the luxury goods industry. The company's founder and CEO, Marco Vecellio, reinvested alongside the GP and retained a minority stake in the new entity.

The GP intends to further boost Margot’s expansion by pursuing an intensive buy-and-build strategy, with the aim of creating an aggregation platform in the Italian leather accessories sector. With the addition of ABC Morini, the group expects to generate EBITDA of €5.5m and turnover of €38m in 2020.

Andrea Tuccio, partner at Mandarin Capital Partners, told Unquote: “We plan to acquire two more companies by carefully selecting the best opportunities across the Italian fashion accessories segment. This strategy will allow us to build an industry leader able to become the favourite partner of luxury brands in Italy and internationally.”

This is one of the few deals recently closed in the fashion and luxury sector, which has been badly hit by the Covid-19 crisis and is expected to be further affected by the decrease in demand in the coming months.

“2020 has been a very difficult year and we expect a significant decrease in fashion and luxury demand from Asia but also Europe and the US and a sharp decline in tourism, which will also contribute to a reduction in the sector's sales across Italy,” Tuccio said. “However, we are confident that our aggregation project in the sector will be successful because we are building a financially solid group able to cover the entire supply chain for fashion accessories. This is what luxury brands all over the world are looking for, especially at this difficult time - a strong and reliable partner, backed by a solid sponsor and able to dialogue with their R&D departments, invest in technology and innovation and comply with high sustainability and traceability standards.”  

Company
Established in 1969 and headquartered in Scandicci, near Florence, ABC Morini is a manufacturer of metallic accessories for the fashion industry.

Its product offering includes buckles, chains, clips, handles, zips for leather goods, primarily handbags, belts and shoes. ABC Morini generated EBITDA of €1.5m from revenues of €8m in 2019.

People
Mandarin Capital Partners  – Andrea Tuccio (partner).
ABC Morini – Monica Morini (CEO).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Mandarin Capital Management SA
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• Buy-and-build