Buffett and Dell push the growth of IMA machinery
“It will be Bdt & Msd Partners to support the Bolognese Ima — one of the main global players in automatic packaging machines with 2 billion in revenues— into the new phase of growth”. which values the company at around 6.5 billion euros, according to people familiar with the matter.
The investment of BDT & MSD Partners it’s a sign of his dealmaking ambitions and the last large transaction to take place in an otherwise slow market. “We believe that BDT & MSD’s long-term vision and deep experience in supporting family businesses make them an ideal partner to help us achieve these goals and accelerate global growth, including in the US market,” said Alberto Vacchi, president and chief executive officer of IMA.
IMA’s deal represents an exit for current private equity lender BC Partners and marks the company’s second sale in the past week. after agreeing to sell Apollo Global Management a minority stake in US pet products retailer PetSmart. BC Partners will double its investment in IMA after acquiring a 45% stake in 2020, one of the people involved said.
According to data from Standard & Poor’s, IMA’s transaction is one of the largest in Europe to date, at a time when rising inflation and concerns about the state of the general economy weighed on trading operations. Buyout firms have been particularly hard hit, as the cost of debt used to finance deals has risen significantly.
Founded in 1961, IMA designs and manufactures machines for the treatment and packaging of pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food products. The company is owned by the wealthy Italian Vacchi family, who built it through a series of acquisitions. BC Partners invested in IMA during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, in a deal that valued IMA’s capital at approximately €3 billion, the Financial Times previously reported. According to a press release, the company had a turnover of 2 billion euros in 2022.
“The firm is widely regarded as a jewel of the manufacturing world in Europe and Northern Italy,” said Stefano Ferraresi, partner at BC Partners, in an interview with the Financial Times.
Subscribe to the newsletter