Armonia exits Italy's BioDue in SBO to Riverside Europe

BioDue's CEO Vanni Benedetti and the other shareholders' minority interests will reinvest in the business, according to a press release from the vendor. Armonia will repay to investors over 90% of the invested capital, it said.

Mergermarket first reported yesterday (15 November) that Riverside signed a deal to acquire a 48.8% stake in the company from Armonia. The asset was marketed off more than EUR 11m 2021 EBITDA, which includes the acquisition of Italian food supplements company Farcoderma, as part of a sale process run by Ethica, as reported.

Armonia invested in the business alongside management in August 2019 via its Armònia Italy Fund. The transaction is the GP's second exit from the debut fund, which held a final close on GBP 247.54m in July 2018, according to Unquote Data.

The deal saw the previously Milan-listed company taken private at an enterprise value of around EUR 64m, which equated to 8x its 2019 EBITDA, Unquote reported. The acquisition was made via a newco named Aurora Dodici, which was owned by Armonia and the Rovati family's holding company, Fidim.

BioDue grew from circa EUR 42m to around EUR 75m expected for 2022, with an average annual growth rate of more than 20%, according to the press release. During the three-years ownership the company acquired Farcoderma and Pharcomed, as well as River Pharma and IP Farma, implementing both industrial and commercial synergies.

Riverside will invest in the company via its Riverside Europe Fund VI, which held a final close on EUR 465m in March 2021, according to Unquote Data.

It intends to pursue a pan-European buy-and-build strategy with BioDue and already has several add-on targets under evaluation, according to a press release from the buyer. At the same time, the firm will seek to enhance BioDue's offering and expand its breadth of product ranges across galenic forms and therapeutic areas, it said. It also plans to enhance the company's commercial approach to accelerate sales growth.

Riverside Europe has previously invested in businesses sitting at the cross-section of healthcare and consumer products and services, such as Euromed and HealthTech Bioactive. They are both natural pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers addressing the dietary supplements market.

The Riverside Company sold UK-based Brookson, a cloud-based SaaS platform for freelancers and their hirers, in June. In January it exited Fund V-backed Germany-headquartered professional kitchens, coffee and vending spare parts business Repa.

The firm is focused on investing in growing businesses on the smaller end of the middle market, valued at up to USD 400m.

Company
Founded in 1986 by the Benedetti family, BioDue is an integrated group specialized in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of food supplements, medical devices and cosmetics. It manufactures niche dosage formulations for third parties with a particular focus on liquids and on probiotics, cough and cold and gastro segments. With 200 staff, the group operates production sites from two hubs located in Florence and Bergamo and serves more than 1,000 national and international clients.

People
Riverside Europe – Damien Gaudin (partner), Rafael Alvarez-Novoa (partner), Karsten Langer (managing partner), Nandor Hajdu (vice president), Mattia Gattesco (associate), Jaime García-Oliveros (associate), Tomasz Glowacki (transaction originator).
BioDue Group − Vanni Benedetti (CEO).

Advisers
Equity − Allen & Overy (legal); EY (financial, tax and HR); Bain & Company (commercial and market due diligence); Alvarez & Marsal (operational diligence); PwC (ESG diligence); Rothschild & Co (M&A and debt advisory).
Vendor − Ethica Group (M&A advisory team as financial advisor); Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici (legal); Deloitte (vendor financial due diligence); Alonzo Committeri & Partners (vendor tax due diligence).

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• Topics
• Southern Europe
• Healthcare
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• Italy
• Riverside