Aksia creates Italian Food Excellence Group with three new deals

With the new group, the Italian GP aims to strengthen oversight on the Italian market for gnocchi, fresh pasta and high-quality ready meals, accelerating expansion in the US, according to a press release.

The platform comprises Buona Compagnia Gourmet (BCG), Il Ceppo and Michelis, as well as Master.

Aksia’s investment director, Filippo Anichini, told Unquote that all companies will remain legally independent and maintain their factories but will be managed by IFEX. The brands and characteristics of each company will not change and the current owners will remain actively involved in operations.

“We aim to exploit the synergies both in terms of commercial and production aspects,” he said.

Aksia acquired all four business that comprise IFEX via its Aksia Capital V fund, which held its final close on GBP 229m in February 2022. It invests in European businesses, focusing on Italy, with potential for high-growth, buy-and-build opportunities and international expansion, generating EBITDA between EUR 10m-EUR 25m from revenues in the EUR 30m-EUR 120m range, according to Unquote Data.

The add-on operations were completed a few months after the entry of Aksia Capital V in Master in September 2021, which gave start to a buy-and-build strategy through the identification of target companies able to generate commercial and production synergies and to foster expansion in foreign markets.

The acquisitions of fresh pasta producer Michelis along with high-quality ready-meals producer Il Ceppo were finalized last week on 20 July, said Anichini. The acquisition of BCG, a direct competitor of Master, particularly in the gnocchi market and known for the Patamore brand, was finalized three days ago. The transaction was structured as a secondary buyout from previous majority private-equity stakeholder, Gradiente and minority-investor Siparex.

Mergermarket first reported in June that Aksia had emerged as the frontrunner to buy BCG, with the deal expected to close before the summer holidays. The deal attracted interest from several financial sponsors, with IDeA Taste of Italy, Riverside and Aliante Partners making management presentations. The winning bid package included help with development, matched the vendor's price expectations and fitted with BCG’s proposed next stage of growth, as reported.

“For the owners and management of Master, this acquisition was a no brainer as BCG was their competitor for years and they knew the company really well,” said Anichini. “Michelis was working a lot with the pasta brand of BCG and so we knew BCG both from Master and Michelis, which gave as many angles to approach the business and was very helpful.”

The ready-meal, fresh gnocchi and pesto sauces producer has production facilities in Italy and the US and sells its products through its own brands and private label in Europe and the US to most of the main supermarket chains and to the food service market.

“BCG, is specular to the rest of group as it has a fresh pasta brand, which is acclaimed in the US, Pasta Fresca Rossi, and this is very important for us,” said Anichini. “They’re also very active in the dips and sauces market in New York, which is an important base for us to export in the US.”

Master and BCG are the only players in the world making gnocchi and other regional specialties, such as spatzle, from fresh potatoes, instead of the commonly used potato starch, therefore this synergy combines the high-quality products of these two players into a sole leader in the gnocchi market, according to Anichini. The sole direct competitor of the group, without matching IFEX’s quality, is now the Italina brand, Giovanni Rana, he added.

“Michelis and Master have a strong presence in the UK, New Zealand, Australia and France, so exploiting the commercial presence of these companies in different countries will help expand the products of all four companies in several foreign markets,” said Anichini. “All companies’ products are similar and so we can also exploit commercial production of all businesses more efficiently.”

The GP is not looking to acquire more companies imminently as it will focus on the consolidation and integration of its recent acquired businesses.

“We might do some smaller add-ons but this will not be the main focus of the next years,” said Anichini.

IFEX Group currently generates more than USD 15m of turnover in the US, according to a press release. At a consolidated level, IFEX today has a turnover of around EUR 100m, half of which comes from BCG and the rest from the other three companies, with an expected growth of more than 10% for 2022, according to the sponsor.

“The size of the group is really important for us because it allows us to have a bigger purchasing power towards both clients and suppliers,” Aksia investment manager Chiara De Blasi told Unquote. “This obviously helps us with the sourcing of raw materials as well.”

Gradiente I, whose life is concluded with the BCG sale, and Siparex Investimenti 2 originally acquired the company, with a co-investment of Insec Equity Partners in 2015 from Dimensione Impresa managed by Assietta Private Equity, according to Unquote Data. The deal was estimated to be valued at EUR 18m. The company grew over this period into an international diversified player though the acquisitions of the American brand Sauces ‘n’ Love in 2017, Casa di Lisio in New York in 2019, the Italian brand Pasta Fresca Rossi in 2021 and the American Bear Pond Farm in 2021, according to a press release.

Company
With the acquisition of Buona Compagnia Gourmet, Master, Michelis and Il Ceppo, the IFEX Group obtains a strategic positioning in the market of gnocchi produced directly from the processing of fresh steamed potatoes and not from the commonly used potato starch. The operation strengthens its presence in the US, where it currently generates more than USD 15m in turnover. It has seven factories, one of which is in the US, with a total of 350 employees, a strong international presence in more than 25 countries and an export share equal to 30% of the total turnover.

People
Aksìa Group − Marco Rayneri (managing partner).
IFEX Group − Stefano Meloni (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – M&A Consulting, Luigi Attardo Parrinello (tax); Long Term Partners (market & business DD); EY (corporate finance & ESG); Giliberti Triscornia e Associati (legal); De Luca & Partners (labor law); Russo De Rosa Associati (tax DD & structuring of the transaction); BG International PLLC (legal and tax DD of US companies); Muzinich, Equita, Banco Azzoaglio e Anteos Capital Advisors (financing); Eurizon Capital Real Asset, TIFF (co-investors); Loan Agency Services, BFF Bank, (paying agents for bond issues).
Vendor − Vitale & Co (corporate finance); PwC (vendor DD); Studio SAT (legal).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Buyouts
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Aksia Group
• Italy