Dedalus (Italy) - Jan 2008

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01 January 2008

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Intesa Sanpaolo has led a transaction to acquire a minority stake in clinical software company Dedalus in an expansion deal valued at €13.6m. Intesa Sanpaolo contributed €7m from the Fondo Centro Impresa for a 23% stake. Sviluppo Imprese Centro Italia (SICI) contributed €3m from its Fondo Toscana Venture for a 10% stake. The former shareholders of Metafora Informatica, recently acquired by Dedalus, also invested €3.6m in the company through the newco Alea Srl for a 10% stake. The remainder is retained by Giorgio Moretti managing director of Dedalus (52%) and the management team (5%). SICI and Cassa di Risparmio San Miniato have also subscribed to the emission of an additional €5m in convertible bonds. The deal took 12 months to complete due to legal complexities involving related acquisitions by Dedalus. Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze (CR di Firenze) and Cassa di Risparmio San Miniato (CR di San Miniato) acted as advisers on the deal. The transaction involved no debt.

Company

Florence-based Dedalus is a software company specialising in management software for use by hospitals, clinical labs, pharmacies and private practices. The company is a spin-off of Datamat, a software company sold to Finmecanica in 2005. In 2007 the company reported a pro-forma consolidated turnover of €28m of which €10m was recorded by Metafora Informatica. The backers project a 30-40% increase in sales in 2008-2010 and a 5% increase in the consolidated EBITDA, currently at 15%. Dedalus employs 203 people. The investors see potential for consolidation in a segment that remains highly fragmented in Italy, where efficiency is also a factor necessary to curtailing public spending. The plan is to reorganise and streamline recent acquisitions; finalise the takeover of targeted companies in order to complete the range of products and services offered and possiblly replicate the process in other European countries. Intesa Sanpaolo foresees an IPO or trade sale as a viable exit route in three to five years’ time.

People

Antonio Finocchi Ghersi, head of Fondo Centro Impresa, and Antonio Angelillo, senior manager, led the deal for Intesa Sanpaolo.

Advisers

Equity - CR di Firenze, (Corporate Finance)Equity - CR di San Miniato, (Corporate Finance)Equity - Deloitte, Ruggero Respigo (Financial Due Diligence)Equity - Gianni Origoni & Partners, Renato Giallombardo, Silvia Bordi (Legal)Equity - Studio Calosi, Andrea Calosi (Legal)Vendor - Kstudio Associato, Andrea Martellacci (Legal)