KKR injects €100m into Gruppo Argenta

The firm's incumbent shareholder, Motion Equity Partners, also committed a further €10m alongside KKR.

KKR acquired a minority stake in the transaction and will take a place on the company's board.

Previous funding
In December 2007, Motion (then Cognetas) and Investitori Associati acquired a majority stake in Gruppo Argenta from Advent International. The deal value was estimated at around €680m with a debt package of between €450-500m, according to unquote" data.

At the time of the negotiation, the facility was set to include about €280m of term debt as well as an acquisition line of close to €80m along with a small revolver. The mezzanine tranche (between €80-100m) was also provided by Mediobanca and UniCredit.

Advent International acquired its stake in the business in 2005 when it bought it from Quadrivio and San Paolo IMI Private Equity, alongside PM & Partners. Advent merged the firm with Cafebon in 2006. 

In June 2009, negotiations between the company's lenders and shareholders hit a standstill with the lenders threatening to enforce their rights on the company's shares – a move which would have seen them gain control of the business. The company first breached its covenants in December 2008 with a subsequent default on a mezzanine interest repayment in April 2009.

In 2010, Motion invested a further €65m into Argenta as part of the company's debt restructuring. Argenta's managers (close to 35 of them) contributed a further €2m to the deal. Investitori Associati did not participate in the restructuring.

As part of the deal, the company's lenders Mediobanca and UniCredit agreed to extend a new €70m line of credit to be used towards external growth. Following the transaction, Argenta's debt was reduced by €100m to €290m.

Company
Founded in 1968 and based in Carpi, Modena, Argenta supplies vending machines to offices, public institutions, universities and outdoor locations such as petrol stations and airports. The firm's automatic vending machines dispense hot and cold drinks and snacks. Semi-automatic capsule machines serve coffee made by Illy, Lavazza and Nespresso.

The company has 18 operational centres across Italy and employs 1,200 staff. In 2013, sales reached around €200m, up from the €180m turnover recorded in 2009.

People
Mark Brown is director of special situations at the London office of KKR.

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• Topics
• Southern Europe
• Expansion
• Restructuring
• Consumer
• Italy
• KKR