M&A

The Cvc fund conquers La Piadineria

Private equity Permira, which had been a shareholder for six years, sold. Transaction less than EUR 600 million

by Carlo Festa

15 January 2024

2' min read

Key points

Numbers

2' min read

CVC Capital Partners is buying 100 per cent of La Piadineria, Italy's largest fast casual food chain, from Permira Funds, a private equity firm active globally. The value of the transaction, according to rumours, would be less than EUR 600 million.

La Piadineria is the market leader in fast casual food, a fast-growing sector in Italy, with over 400 restaurants spread across cities, shopping centres, outlets and retail parks. The formula proposed in La Piadineria brand outlets is based on the offer of over 30 types of piadina, prepared with a dough entirely produced in the Montirone (BS) plant.

The numbers

Since its foundation, La Piadineria has grown at a fast pace to become the second largest restaurant chain in Italy. Today, La Piadineria can count on a team of over 2,500 employees serving around 70,000 customers every day.

Permira funds acquired La Piadineria at the beginning of 2018 and supported the company's growth and transformation path, tripling both turnover and Ebitda in the last 6 years; to date, the Group has over 400 directly operated shops and a team of around 2,500 employees, up from 160 and 1,000 respectively at the beginning of 2018.

"We are thrilled to support a solid company like La Piadineria," explains Alessandro Baccarin, Director of CVC, "which has placed product quality and customer satisfaction at the centre of its offer to consumers, becoming a leader in the sector thanks to operational excellence and a unique and distinctive format. CVC is ready to support the company on its next growth path, through further business expansion in Italy, diversification into other fast casual formats, and internationalisation. We look forward to working with Andrea Valota and the management team to drive the next successful chapter of La Piadineria".

"We are happy to have supported La Piadineria in this journey," says Francesco Pascalizi, Partner and Head of Italy at Permira, "and we are proud that the company is now one of the most successful chains in the Italian restaurant market.

CVC was assisted 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.

CVC is a leading global private markets investment firm with a network of 29 offices across EMEA, the Americas and Asia, and approximately $177 billion in assets under management. CVC operates seven complementary investment strategies across private equity, secondary, credit and infrastructure, for which CVC's funds have secured commitments of over EUR 200 billion from some of the world's leading pension funds and other institutional investors. Funds managed directly or advised by CVC's private equity strategy have invested in more than 125 companies worldwide, with a total annual turnover of approximately EUR 166 billion