WAICO ACQUIRES ITALFORNI, STRENGTHENING ITS LEADERSHIP IN THE SEGMENT OF MACHINERIES FOR PIZZERIAS, PATISSERIES AND BAKERIES
Pesaro, November 11th 2022
Waico group, one of the Italian leaders in the sector of artisanal machineries for pastry, bakery and pizza, has completed the acquisition of Italforni, a company located in Pesaro and active in the design and production of ovens mainly for the artisanal pizzeria market.
The acquisition of Italforni represents for Waico a confirmation of the build-up strategy carried out by the controlling shareholder, Mindful Capital Partners. Waico itself was born from the merger of three producers of machines dedicated to artisanal white art (Vitella, Starmix and Effedue), acquired contextually at the end of 2021.
Before this acquisition, Waico projected revenues of approximately 26 million euros for the current year, which comes to 37 million euros with the add-on.
Andrea Ricci, son of one of the founders and soul of Italforni, will maintain the operational leadership of the company. The Group CEO, Paolo Zunino, will be responsible for managing the integration process, with the aim of fully exploiting the significant commercial synergies.
Italforni, founded in the late 1980s, has recorded significant sales growth in recent years, leveraging on a range of innovative products which are recognized for their technological avantgarde and characterised by a distinctive aesthetic impact. The company exports about 60% of its turnover to all continents.
Italy is a world leader in white art machinery, but national landscape is characterized by significant fragmentation in small-sized companies. For this reason, Mindful Capital, as well as other private equity operators, decided to bet on a buy-and-build process aimed at acquiring important competitive advantages by strengthening the competitive positioning of the targets and reinforcing their managerial structure.
Lorenzo Stanca, Managing Partner of Mindful Capital said: “With Waico we confirm our ability to quickly and effectively implement aggregation projects in sectors where Italy is a leader, but with an important dimensional problem”.
Paolo Zunino, Waico CEO, added: “Upon entry of Italforni into the Group, Waico presents itself as one of the reference operators in the sector. We will represent for our customers a reliable supplier, capable of offering integrated solutions. Technological innovation, already a distinctive feature of our Group, will be even more at the center of our work”. Gianluca Boni, Chairman of the Group, stressed that “The artisanal bakery machinery industry is bound to grow significantly in the next few years and we want to play a leading role in it”.
Andrea Ricci of Italforni declared: “Today a new chapter of Italforni history begins. We have come a long way, but we are sure that what awaits us is further strong growth”.
Waico was assisted in the transaction by KPMG for financial and tax due diligence, with a team led by Klaus Riccardi, while the business DD was entrusted to the team of Marco Alberti and Cristiano Grosa of GEA. For the legal aspects, Waico was assisted by the Pavia and Ansaldo team made up of the partner Giuseppe Besozzi and the associate Martina Bosi. The environmental and ESG due diligence was carried out by the ERM team led by Giovanni Aquaro.
The sellers, on the other hand, relied on SRI Group Global, with Massimo Domini and Ludovico Corbetta, as M&A advisor, and on Marchionni & Partners, with Claudio Sanchioni, for the tax and legal aspects.
Mr. Zunino was assisted by Andrea Ferrandi and Carlo Riso of Andersen, while the minority shareholders of Waico by SAT with Alvise Spinazzi.
The transaction was financed through an integration of the financing agreement already in place at BPER, which was assisted by the team of Davide D’Affronto of Simmons&Simmons.
Mindful Capital Partners (MCP) MCP is an independent Private Equity firm, active since 2007 and investing in small and medium-sized companies which could benefit from enhanced growth strategies in international markets. Headquartered in Luxembourg, MCP boasts a consolidated presence in the Italian market. In addition, it leverages on two local investment advisers ensuring the coverage of relevant markets (DACH Area and China).
