Wise buys tires specialist Vittoria

The vendor is Dutch entrepreneur Rudie Campagne, who acquired Vittoria from its founders in 1990. Following the deal, Campagne will retire as chair of the company, while Stijn Vriends will become new group chair and CEO, and will co-invest alongside Wise.

This is the second deal inked by the GP via Wisequity V and shortly follows its purchase of telecoms cable manufacturer Fimo from private equity firm IGI.

Wisequity V targets Italian family-owned mid-market companies, operating in niche B2B sectors, with enterprise values in the €20-70m bracket. It acquires majority stakes and deploys equity tickets in the €5-20m range. The fund closed on its €260m hard-cap in July 2019.

Company
Established in 1953 and based in Madone, near Bergamo, Vittoria is a manufacturer of bicycle tires.

The company employs 1,300 staff and produces more than 7 million tires per year. It sells its products in Europe, North America and Asia, and generates annual turnover of around €60m.

People
Wise Equity – Paolo Gambarini (founding partner); Bruno Barago (investment manager).
Vittoria – Stijn Vriends (CEO, chair).

Advisers
Equity – Simmons & Simmons (legal); KPMG (financial due diligence); Spada Partners (tax).
Company – K Finance (corporate finance); Fieldfisher (legal); Studio De Rosa (tax).

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