MILANO – Change of hands, between funds, for the La Piadineria restaurant chain with its four hundred points of sale and more in cities, shopping centers and outlets.
A note gives the news of the acquisition carried out by CVC Capital Partners: the private equity funds Permira, which had purchased it in 2018, are selling 100% of the capital.
“The formula proposed in the La Piadineria branded sales points is based on the offer of over 30 types of piadina, prepared with a dough entirely produced in the Montirone factory”, in the province of Brescia, recalls the note. La Piadineria has become the second restaurant chain in Italy, with over 2,500 collaborators serving approximately 70,000 customers every day. When it was acquired by Permira, La Padineria had 160 stores and a thousand collaborators. Permira had in turn purchased the company from the Idea Taste of Italy fund by Dea Capital. Piadineria was founded in 1994 by two friends in Brescia.
CVC is a global investment company with almost $180 billion in assets, with funds invested in 125 companies around the world for a turnover of $166 billion.
Alessandro Baccarin, director of CVC, in the note said he was “enthusiastic” to “support a solid company like La Piadineria, which has placed product quality and customer satisfaction at the center of its offering to consumers, becoming a leader in the sector thanks to operational excellence and a unique and distinctive format”. The future path indicated is that of a “further expansion of the business in Italy, diversification into other fast casual formats, and internationalisation”.
Abroad is also in the sights of the CEO of Piadineria, Andrea Valota: “Our ambition is to consolidate the leadership position of La Piadineria in Italy and to accelerate our expansion abroad”. Francesco Pascalizi, head of Permira in Italy, thanked the team of the company sold and said he was “happy” to have “supported it in this journey and we are proud that the company is today one of the most successful chains in the catering market Italian”.
The operation, according to financial sources, values La Piadineria at 600 million euros on the basis of a turnover which at the end of December was estimated at 200 million (from 60 million following the acquisition of Permira). There is a large group of advisors who have worked on it. CVC was advised by Bain & Co., OC&C, Alvarez & Marsal, New Deal Advisors, Facchini Rossi Michelutti, PedersoliGattai, Lazard and Jefferies. Permira was advised by Rothschild, Mediobanca, Legance, BCG, E&Y, Simon-Kucher, Maisto & Associati.