Thesan buys Pizza Marzano from TDR

Susannah Birkwood
13 April 2011

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Buyout house Thesan Capital has acquired Pizza Marzano from private equity firm TDR Capital and Capricorn Ventures International as part of a management buy-in.

Thesan, which injected €13m in exchange for a 100% stake, plans to pursue expansion and consolidation opportunities for the Spanish restaurant chain across the Iberian Peninsula in the coming years. The investor's offer was enhanced by its experience in the food sector, while the deal itself was enabled through pre-existing contacts between Thesan executives and the vendors.

Company-specific characteristics that attracted Thesan include the prestige of the Pizza Marzano brand and its status as the largest firm (with regards to number of outlets owned) within a sector which the private equity firm believes has strong potential over the next few years. It therefore sees the company as an excellent platform to facilitate Thesan's own expansion into the restaurant segment.

Thesan's eponymous special situations fund, Thesan Capital, closed on €200m in 2008.

Previous funding
TDR Capital and the South African Enhoven family investment holding Capricorn Ventures International took private Pizza Marzano's former parent company, PizzaExpress, in July 2003. The auction process was organised by Credit Suisse First Boston and the investors paid £278m, which they channelled via the offer vehicle GondolaExpress. A mixed debt package was structured by Bank of Scotland.

TDR and Capricorn floated the Gondola business in early 2005, but they retained the international arm, including Pizza Marzano. Gondola Holdings was later taken private again when it was acquired by Cinven in late 2006.

Cinven-backed Gondola then acquired the international arm in September 2010, but this deal excluded the Pizza Marzano business in Spain and a further two restaurants in France.

Debt
No leverage details were disclosed for this transaction.

Company
Specialists in Italian cuisine, the Pizza Marzano food chain operates under the Pastra Nostra, Pizza Nostra and Pizza Marzano brands and employs a staff of 365. It is based in Barcelona and was founded in 2001.

The company generated revenues of €18.1m in 2010.

People
Investment analyst Pedro Ruiz de Marcos led the deal for Thesan Capital and joins the company's executive board as CEO, alongside colleague Ramón Villaverde, who assumes the role of CFO.

TDR Capital was co-founded by Manjit Dale and Stephen Robertson.

Advisers
Equity – Landwell-PricewaterhouseCoopers (Legal and fiscal due diligence); PricewaterhouseCoopers (Financial due diligence); Nicea Abogados, Juan Eugenio Diaz (Legal).
Vendor - BESI (Corporate finance); Herbert & Smith (Legal).