M&A

Panini stickers back on the radar of US groups

The historic shareholders have mandated the US bank Citi for strategic options. The dossier is being evaluated by the multinational Topps and large global funds

by Carlo Festa

30 October 2025

Alcuni album delle figurine Panini dei calciatori,
Collezione di Umberto Giganti - Cagliari — Alcuni album delle figurine Panini dei calciatori, Collezione di Umberto Giganti - Cagliari

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Key points

The Times
The evaluation node

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

US multinationals and large private equity funds are reopening the dossier on the Panini group, world leader in figurines and publisher in Italy of Mickey Mouse and Marvel comics. According to rumours, the future share reorganisation for the historic Modena-based company is beginning to take shape.

A first step was taken in recent weeks with the appointment of the financial advisor Citi by Panini's shareholders, in particular its president Anna Baroni.

Last spring, the group's iconic shareholder, Aldo Hugo Sallustro, the historic owner of Panini stickers, passed away. The Italo-Argentine businessman had been at the helm of the company for around thirty years, i.e. since he became managing director after one of the various changes of ownership that followed the sale by the Panini brothers.

From manager, Sallustro had then become owner in 2016, in partnership with the Baroni sisters, after the exit of Fineldo, the family vault of the Merloni dynasty.

The Times

The process of reorganising the shareholding of Panini, which sells more than 5 billion stickers a year and generates a turnover of more than 1.5 billion euros, is expected to start concretely in the middle of next year, when the balance sheet figures for 2026, the year of the World Cup and the Winter Olympics among others, will be clear and more visible. There is no shortage of potential interested parties: according to rumours, it may be more likely that strategic players and American multinationals will open the dossier.

Among these could be, according to rumours, the US group The Topps Company, a multinational corporation headed by a group of investors. The latter has been involved in baseball in the USA since the 1950s: Topps Baseball Cards are a symbol of American sports culture.

The Panini operation, however, will also be on the table of large multinational groups, especially in the entertainment and toy sectors. Among the funds that have looked at the dossier in the past and are familiar with the company were global investors such as Advent, Charterhouse and Cvc.

The evaluation node

One of the knots remains the valuation of the Panini group: profitability and turnover go up at major sporting events, such as the World Cup and the Olympics. In 2022, the last World Cup pushed revenues over 2 billion euros. Panini's 2025 normalised Ebitda, according to Mergermarket's estimates, should be around 250-300 million euros with an overall valuation of the company that could be around 2.5 billion euros.

In 2026, the company hopes to exploit major sporting events such as the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, but especially the World Cup. Panini has signed an exclusive agreement with FIFA to renew its historic partnership until 2030. This agreement grants Panini the exclusive rights to produce figurines and cards for the 2026 World Cup, the 2027 Women's World Cup and the 2030 World Cup.