Taste of Italy 2 closes on €330m

The vehicle, which is dedicated to investments across the food and beverage industry, was launched in October 2019 with a €250-300m target.

The fund is led by managing directors Pierluca Antolini and Andrea Bertoncello.

Taste of Italy 2 is larger than its predecessor, Idea Taste of Italy, which closed on €218m in 2015 and is currently more than 75% deployed across five companies: ice cream producer Gelati d'Italia, acquired in May 2016; plastic bottle top producer CDS, backed in June 2017; pizza maker Alice Pizza, bought in March 2019; land management software specialist Abaco, acquired in June 2019; and food machinery manufacturer Turatti, bought in December 2019. In addition, the fund holds a small stake in La Piadineria, kept after the exit in 2017.

The fund has already completed two exits: the partial sale of Italian fast food chain La Piadineria to Permira in December 2017 after a two-and-a-half-year holding period, in a €250m deal; and the sale of its stake in beverage specialist Lurisia to Greek soft drinks distributor Coca Cola HBC in September 2019, in a deal that gave the company an enterprise value of €88m, equal to 16x its 2018 EBITDA. In addition, the sale of Casa Vinicola Botter to Clessidra is close to completion.

The remainder of the fund's capital will be used for additional bolt-ons aimed at strengthening the portfolio companies' market positions.

Established in 2006, DeA Capital Alternative Funds is an Italian private equity specialist with €5bn in assets under management. In addition to its private equity focus, the firm also manages two UTP-dedicated funds: Corporate Credit Recovery Fund I (CCR I) and Corporate Credit Recovery Fund II (CCR II), as well as a range of funds-of-funds.

Investors
A large number of investors from DeA's previous private equity fund re-upped to this new vehicle. In addition, numerous new LPs – both Italian and international – joined the fund's investor base.

Among the main investors in the fund is Italian state-backed Fondo Italiano d'Investimento (FII), as well as Italian pension funds Fondo Pensione Nazionale BCC - Banca Credito Cooperativo and Cassa Nazionale di Previdenza e Assistenza Forense.

Investments
Taste of Italy 2 will invest in companies in the food and beverage sector, across its entire value chain, from food producers and wine specialists to food packaging machinery manufacturers.

It will deploy equity tickets of €20-40m, and primarily target majority and controlling stakes in mid-market companies, generating EBITDA in the €5-20m range.

The new fund will expand the geographical scope of its predecessor, which was exclusively dedicated to the Italian market. Taste of Italy 2 will be able to deploy up to 30% of its capital outside of Italy, with a special focus on Iberia, which has a strong food and beverage industry. To implement this strategy, the firm opened an office in Madrid in 2019, which is led by managing director Leopoldo Reaño.

Taste of Italy 2 is close to inking its first deal, which is expected to be announced in the coming days: the acquisition of an Italian company specialised in the production of ready meals. In addition to this transaction, the vehicle is also in advanced talks for other deals that are expected to close in the coming months.

People
DeA Capital Alternative Funds – Gianandrea Perco (CEO); Pierluca Antolini, Andrea Bertoncello (managing directors).

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