Fondo Agroalimentare Italiano invests in Urbis Food

The deal marks the completion of the fund's investment program, having deployed more than EUR 50m across nine investments over five years, according to an announcement.

The fund was launched in 2018 and held a final close on EUR 55m in December 2019, according to Unquote Data. The vehicle has already realised three of its investments, the GP said in the same announcement: namely, frozen pastry specialist Sfoglia Torino, transport logistics company Trasporti Romagna, as well as luxury and agrifood packaging producer IndustrialBox & Pack+.

FAI and its co-investors will support founder Giorgio Longhi and his sons in the firm's expansion across Italy while strengthening the GiorgioMare brand and doubling sales over the coming five years, it said.

Looking ahead, Urbis Food will aim to strengthen its management team. It currently has more than 60 collaborators, it said. It will also explore new potential growth and expansion opportunities with the aim of consolidating the seafood market and developing industrial synergies in the space, as well as further investing in the expansion of its production facilities.

Illimity Bank participated in the transaction as sole lender via its Growth Credit division for corporate clients, according to the statement.

Aside from its latest deal, Unigrains plans to continue its investment activity in Italy and has opened a Milan-based subsidiary to invest in mid-sized Italian agri-food companies. It is planning to invest EUR 80m to EUR 100m within the next five years, directly and via equity capital, in a dozen companies in Italy all across the agri-food value chain, as reported.

Company
Founded in 2016 by Giorgio Longhi, Urbis Food is an Italian supplier of seafood for distributors and retailers. Its range of frozen, dry and ready meal seafood products generated sales of more than EUR 50m in 2022. The company is present in 10 regions with roughly 70 points of sale including direct stores, franchises and retail corners.

People
Urbis Food − Giorgio Longhi (founder).
Fondo Agroalimentare Italiano − Francesco Orazi (head), Alfredo Cicognani (investment director), Julien Becquet (investment manager), Kayak Family Office, Marcap, GP Capital Partner (co-investors).

Advisers
Equity − Gitti & Partners, Vincenzo Giannantonio, Domenico Patruno, Giulia Fossati Zunino (legal); goetzpartners, Giovanni Calia, Philip Lloyd, Sarrah-Zbeida Mouelhi, Alessandro Vino (strategic); Grant Thornton Financial Advisory, Stefano Marchetti, Marco Degregori, Lorenzo Bonciani (corporate finance); Bernoni Grant Thornton, Gianni Bitetti, Sara Flisi, Paola Venturi (fiscal).
Company − Studio Legale Principi, Fiorenzo Principi, Claudia Tombesi (legal); CF&S Advisors, Marco Lazzaro (M&A).

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• Topics
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• Unigrains
• Italy