Preziosi Food Srl / Vertis SGR and Hat

In a management buy-out deal, Vertis SGR and Hat, two Italian private equity firms, have acquired Preziosi Food Srl from Grani & Partners, a controlled company of the Giochi Preziosi Group, and the management team. The three Preziosi Food’s key executives – Enrico Grani (Chairman), Donato D’Alessandro (CEO) and Vito Spada (COO) – will reinvest alongside Vertis SGR and Hat.

Preziosi Food Srl, together with its sister company Mitica Food Srl, merged in Preziosi Food in July 2015, produces and distributes savory and sweet snacks sold with surprises/gadgets under license agreements (related to major movies, cartoons and toy characters). The company’s main products are chocolate Easter eggs and potato chips, sold in Italy under the brands Dolci Preziosi and Salati Preziosi, and under private label (savoury snacks only).

Based in Naples, Vertis SGR is an Italian independent management company of private equity and venture capital funds, mainly focused on companies located in central and southern Italy. Hat, based in Milan, is an investment company focused on growth capital for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Preziosi Food Srl is 60% owned by Grani & Partners, which is part of the Giochi Preziosi Group, and 40% by its executives Donato D’Alessandro (CEO) and Vito Spada (COO), with 20% each. Founded in 1978, Giochi Preziosi Group is an Italian leading toys manufacturer and retailer, headquartered in Cogliate, close to Milan. With a turnover in excess of US$990 million, the group has distribution entities in the UK, France, Benelux, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Turkey. The retailing activity is managed in connection with the Artsana group, with 600 points of sale under different brands –Toys Center (Italy), King Jouet (France), Bimbo Store (Italy) and Prenatal (Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece) – and a wide network of franchisees. Giochi Preziosi Group controls 60% of Grani & Partners, a company active in loyalty and fidelity, promotion and publishing, with 25 years of international experience and relationships with the major licensing groups. Grani & Partners is 40% owned by the family of Enrico Grani, the entrepreneur who still runs the company.

Arietti & Partners, M&A International Inc.’s member firm in Italy, was engaged as exclusive financial advisor for the shareholders of Preziosi Food.

“Thank you very much to the Cavendish team for all of your help and advice on this transaction. We are not sure how would have got to the end without you and you had an ability to find a mid-ground where both sides were happy – this certainly takes some skill.

Thank you for all of your hard work and we would not hesitate in recommending you and your services to anyone else.”

Martin Brown, Founder and majority shareholder of Wine-Searcher

“The Cavendish team, led by Lord Leigh of Hurley and Rebecca McCredie has done a fantastic job in managing the transaction with great skill. They were crucial in delivering this deal and its successful outcome – many thanks to the whole team.”

Johnny Goedhuis, Chairman of Goedhuis Waddesdon Limited

“In completing this transaction, we wanted to ensure that the growth and success of the business that we have built to date is the foundation for further expansion in the years to come. We are delighted with the outcome and we would like to thank the team at finnCap Cavendish for all of their help throughout this process. They are experts at advising founders and entrepreneurs and they provided us with invaluable advice and guidance throughout.”

Hugo Douglas-Pennant and Martyn Bell, co-founders of Bramblecrest

“We are delighted to be partnering with Rockpool. This transaction will enable us to accelerate our long-term growth objectives and help expand our international presence, especially in the US. Karri and Amy achieved a fantastic result for us and their ecommerce sector expertise, professionalism and unwavering dedication throughout the process were instrumental in achieving a successful completion.”

Nick Comer, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Rosetta Brands

“We are immensely grateful for the hard work and expertise we received from finnCap in securing this fundraise. Zuleika’s knowledge and communication skills were outstanding. It is the first time we have raised external funds so we were heavily reliant on their introductions, all of which were a good fit for Ro&Zo. Zuleika’s guidance through the process was exemplary. We are delighted to have chosen Pembroke as our new shareholders and look forward to a long relationship with them as we continue our growth strategy.”

Rachel Heather, CEO and Co-Founder, Ro&Zo

“On behalf of all of the shareholders at Peach, a huge thank you to the team at finnCap Cavendish – they have done a great job. With the unprecedented macro back-drop that we have all been experiencing, we needed an adviser who was thoughtful, tenacious and prepared to go the extra mile. We got of all this in spades from the finnCap Cavendish team and it has been a pleasure to work with them. We would not hesitate to recommend them to other business founders and entrepreneurs who are in need of experience-led judgement and advice.”

Hamish Stoddart, co-founder & CEO, Peach Pubs

“I would also like to thank the team at finnCap Cavendish. They have done a great job in finding us the right buyer and running a smart and efficient process. Their support throughout has been excellent and combined with their commercial approach and sector knowledge, they have made great advisers for us.”

Morgan Davies, Founder of Barburrito

“Joe Stelzer and his team at finnCap Cavendish were the perfect partners as we navigated this exciting next step for the group. The firm’s wealth of expertise in advising entrepreneurial growth businesses, partnered with their quality of service and professionalism was invaluable and helped make this deal function as smoothly as possible.”

Charles Barnett, Managing Director & Founder, Lyco Group

“This transaction is huge for our business as we look to continue our growth journey. We’re very excited to have raised enough capital from a leading impact investor to expand our market-leading position and maintain standards of excellence across all our products. We’re hugely grateful to the team at finnCap, who played a fundamental role, in what we hope, will be a very exciting growth story.”

Ben Wigley, CEO, Big Green Smile

“I would like to thank all of those involved in the process that has concluded with us ultimately choosing Neighborly as our partner going forward, those at finnCap Cavendish and our CFO Mike Bergin, without whom this would have not happened.”

Scott Mullins, President and CEO of Pimlico Plumbers