Itago exits Altanova to Esco

Alessia Argentieri
21 May 2021

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Italian private equity firm Itago has sold electrical testing business ISA Altanova Group to US-based company Esco Technologies.

The deal gives Altanova an enterprise value of €110m, a source close to the situation told Unquote. This would equate to almost 14x the company's 2020 EBITDA.

With this exit, the GP has reaped a return of 4.5x on its initial investment.

Following the deal, Altanova founder and CEO Gino Amadi will stay on with the business.

Altanova was a portfolio company of NEIP III, a fund managed by Itago that is now fully deployed. The vehicle acquired Varese-headquartered ISA Advance Test and Monitoring and Bologna-based Techimp in 2017, establishing a newco named Altanova, 60% controlled by the fund and 40% by CEO Gino Amadi and the management. NEIP III invested around €15m in equity in the deal.

Under Itago's ownership, the company increased its turnover from around €9m in 2016 to €32m in 2020 by boosting its organic growth and pursuing a buy-and-build strategy. The company acquired US business IntelliSAW in November 2019.

With the acquisition of Altanova, Esco expects to capture additional growth on a global scale, while creating new opportunities to secure recurring revenue and expand its operations.

Esco is a manufacturer of filtration and fluid control products for the aviation, navy and aerospace industries. It generated revenues of $733m with an adjusted EBITDA of $137m in 2020.

Company
Headquartered in Taino, Altanova specialises in electrical monitoring and testing, including partial discharge (PD) measurement and analysis, as well as test instruments for electrical assets.

The company offers a range of diagnostic products, monitoring systems and services for power generation, renewable energy, storage, transmission and distribution networks in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Employing 100 staff, Altanova generated EBITDA of €8m from revenues of €32m in 2020.

People
Itago – Domenico Tonussi (managing partner); Piergiorgio Fantin (partner).
Esco Technologies – Vic Richey (chair, CEO).
Altanova – Gino Amadi (founder).