Laghi Baite Land (Italy) - Dec 2007

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01 December 2007

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Strategia Italia has taken a 33% stake in the park Laghi Baite Land in a deal valued at EUR 9m. The breakdown includes, EUR 4m equity, of which EUR 1m have been assure by the Casetta family owners of the park and EUR 5m in debt underwritten by Unicredit Banca d’Impresa (UBI) and Monte dei Paschi (MPS) Bank. The transaction which took 6 months to complete was originated by UBI bank in an effort to assure an equity investor for the deal. The major appeal of the venture for the investors was the possibility to transform the park. The idea is to resort to an immersive zoo concept, which has a high capital generation capacity. This is the fourth investment by Strategia Italia’s first fund, Fondo Nord Ovest.

Company

Cuminana-based Laghi Baite Land is owned by the Casetta family and was founded in 1963 and was not managed by the family until 2002. The park projects a turnover of EUR 1m with an EBITDA margin rate of 30% and a staff of 30 employees. The business plans includes transforming a family owned park into a hybrid zoological theme park to exploit the immersive zoo concept that has already taken root in countries such as Spain. For this the surface area of the park will expand from its current 7 hectares to 16. Along with its commercial goals the company will also pursue social and scientific objectives by working with national and international research and academic institutions on conservation and other programmes. The park will remain operational throughout its expansion period. It will reopen under the new concept in 2010. A development phase will ensue in the following two years. The exit by the backers envisioned for 2013. Foreseeable disinvestments opportunities include listing the company or the repurchase of the stake by the original shareholders. Massimo Mondini and Pier Andrea Comoglio of Strategia Italia will join the board in which the investor will have two seats. The remaining three will be held by the original shareholders. Similarly, two of the three auditing committee seats will also be occupied by Strategia Italia including the presidency.

People

Massimo Mondini and Pier Andrea Comoglio lead the transaction on behalf of Strategia Italia SGR

Advisers

Equity - Ernst & Young, Andrea Guerzoni , Matteo Cerri (Financial Due Diligence)Equity - Ernst & Young, Alessandro Vicini , Marco Bosca (Tax)Equity - Ernst & Young, Matteo Zapelli , Stefano Domenichini (Legal)Equity - Willis , Massimo Mioliggi (Insurance Due Diligence)Vendor - Marco Rossi e Associati, Gianluca Serino (Legal)Vendor - Vasapolli & Associati, Andrea Vasapolli (Tax)