PRIVATE EQUITY

Named supplements on the radar of big funds

Launch of trial on White Bridge subsidiary. Interest from Cinven and Ta Associates.

23 September 2025

2' min read

Large private equity funds and multinational pharmaceutical companies are vying to acquire Named Group, the Italian supplement and nutriceuticals hub currently controlled by its shareholder, the investment holding company White Bridge Investments.

According to rumours, discussions with possible interested parties have been taking place in recent weeks: at work are the advisors appointed by White Bridge, namely Nomura and Ethica Corporate Finance. According to rumours, pharmaceutical groups such as the German multinational Stada Arzneimittel Ag have entered the field. The dossier has also reached the Italian Dompé Farmaceutici, which, however, is not interested, and Doc Pharma. Competing with the strategic groups would be a large list of interested private equity funds, which would include Ta Associates, Cinven, Carlyle, Charterhouse and Advent.

The operation could go live in the autumn and the company could be valued at over EUR 800 million. The group is the result of the merger of three companies: Specchiasol, Named and Phyto Garda.

The consolidation process began in 2020, when White Bridge Investments took over control of Specchiasol, a Verona-based company dedicated to phytotherapy, with the aim of accelerating growth in the domestic and foreign markets. Specchiasol has since become a significant aggregator platform in the sector. The most significant union, in numerical terms, was with Named (acronym for Natural Medicine), founded in 1988, which develops and produces nutriceuticals, phytotherapy products and medical devices.

Over the years, the latter, based in Lesmo (in Brianza), has become an increasingly important reference in the field of natural medicine.

To complete the plan of aggregations, the Phyto Garda group, a company from Rivoli Veronese, a producer of food supplements and medical devices, and one of the most important players in the Italian nutraceutical market, founded by the Veronese pharmacist Alessandro Moglia, also entered the perimeter.

Thanks also to the exploitation of synergies between the three companies, the new entity focused on consolidating its market share as a starting point for future growth and further development scenarios, both in Italy and abroad. Over the years, Named has grown and taken over other companies: Wellmicro, Farma-Derma, New Penta, the Bologna-based start-up Life, the Belgian GDI Martera, and finally Inco, an Italian company based in Pianoro (in the province of Bologna) founded in 1971 and specialised in the production of cosmetics under its own brand and for third parties.

The consolidated turnover of the new group, which in just a few years has become the natural health pole in Italy and is led by Alessio Romitelli, is currently around 200 million euro, with an Ebitda in 2025 of around 50 million euro.

Named's shareholder, White Bridge Investments, is an investment holding company specialising in private equity founded in late 2018 by Stefano Devescovi (former Lehman and Nomura) and Marco Pinciroli (co-founder of Innogest),