Alto-backed CEI buys Lema

The GP told Unquote that this add-on was financed with equity deployed by Alto Capital IV and some co-investors, as well as a debt package provided by Banco BPM as lead arranger and Intesa Sanpaolo.

Lema CEO Giordano Zauli, together with the Poci family, reinvested in the deal and acquired a minority share in the combined group.

Following the add-on of Lema, CEI expects to reach revenues of €85m in 2021, with a consolidated EBITDA margin of approximately 20%.

Alto acquired a majority stake in CEI from the founding Boni family in May 2020. The GP bought a stake of approximately 75% in a deal that valued the company at around €75m, equal to 5.5x its EBITDA. The acquisition was supported by a debt package provided by Banco BPM as lead arranger and Intesa Sanpaolo.

The deal was made via a newco called Spare Partners, which was established by the GP as an aggregation platform across the Italian industrial vehicle spare parts sector.

Alto invested in CEI via Alto Capital IV, which held a final close on its €210m hard-cap in April 2018. The vehicle targets Italian SMEs generating revenues within the €20-80m bracket, and deploys equity tickets of €15-25m.

Company
Established in 1969 and headquartered in Bologna, Lema specialises in the design, production and commercialisation of aftermarket components and spare parts for heavy commercial vehicles.

People
Alto Partners – Enrico Ricotta, Pietro Marchianò (partners).
Costruzione Emiliana Ingranaggi – Elisabetta Boni (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – R&P Legal (legal); Goetz Partners (commercial due
diligence); Deloitte (financial due diligence); Tauw (ESG due diligence); Sopabroker (insurance due diligence).
Company – Serantoni e Associati (financial due diligence); La Scala (legal).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Southern Europe
• Industrials
• Alto Partners
• Italy
• Build-up
• Buy-and-build
• Deloitte