Wise Equity invests in Selle Royal

The founding Bigolin family will continue to hold the majority stake in Selle Royal via their holding company Dec Holding.

In December 2019, the company hired UBS to find a financial partner that could acquire a stake in the business and further accelerate its growth.

The company received first round bids from private equity firms including Epic, Blue Gem and Ergon in February 2020, but the sale was subsequently put on hold temporarily due to unfavourable market conditions, according to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket.

The GP invested in the company via Wisequity V, which closed on its €260m hard-cap in July 2019. The fund targets Italian family-owned mid-market companies that operate 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.

Wise intends to support the company in boosting its growth both organically and via new acquisitions, while accelerating the expansion of its product offerings.

Wise has previously invested in the bicycle industry by acquiring Vittoria, an Italian manufacturer of high-end bicycle tires.

Company
Founded in 1956 and headquartered in Pozzoleone, Selle Royal specialises in the design and production of bicycle saddles and accessories.

The company operates four production plants in Italy, China, Brazil and the UK, and has five R&D centres. It sells its products under the Selle Royal, Fizik, Crank Brothers, Brooks and PedalEd brands.

The business generated EBITDA of €14.6m from revenues of €130m in 2019, and had turnover of €190m in 2020, of which around 90% came from outside Italy.

People
Selle Royal – Barbara Bigolin (CEO, chair).
Wise Equity – Paolo Gambarini (partner); Bruno Barago, Paolo Zucchi (investment managers).

Advisers
Company – UBS (corporate finance); Fieldfisher (legal); PwC (financial due diligence).
Equity – Simmons & Simmons (legal); Studio Spada Partners (financial due diligence).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Wise SGR
• Italy