Equita and the Bcc Iccrea Group have finalized the commercial agreement announced last March, giving rise to a partnership aimed at expanding the offering of investment banking services, global markets, alternative asset management and research available to the group's BCCs and their clients.
simultaneously, Iccrea Banca has become a shareholder of Equita. with a minority stake of 15% of the share capital, approximately 12% in terms of voting rights. The transaction strengthens Equita's shareholder structure and aims to accelerate its growth in the coming years.
A pool of over 200 thousand businesses
The agreement pools Equita's specialist skills with the widespread presence of the Bcc Iccrea Group, which comprises 111 cooperative credit banks, over 2.400 branches, and a presence in more than 1.700 Italian municipalities. The group serves over 5,2 million customers and maintains relationships with more than 205 companies, to which it has provided €44,8 billion in financing.
Within this basin, approximately 5 thousand companies represent a potential target for collaboration between the two groups, considering size, margins, growth paths, and possible needs related to extraordinary transactions or generational transition.
M&A, markets and extraordinary finance
The partnership will allow the BCCs to make corporate and private banking available to its customers Equita's investment banking expertise. Specifically, the firm's professionals will support the BCC network in originating M&A advisory mandates, equity and debt capital markets transactions, and debt advisory activities.
The goal is to offer businesses more sophisticated tools to support acquisitions, growth processes, generational transitions, and other extraordinary financial transactions, while maintaining the BCCs' role as relationship and proximity banks.
More space for asset management
The agreement also affects alternative asset managementEquita has a multi-asset platform that includes private equity, private debt, and infrastructure funds, as well as asset management products, management mandates, and portfolio allocation advisory services.
The Bcc Iccrea Group will be able to evaluate the distribution of these products to its customers and, through Iccrea Banca, also participate in illiquid funds promoted by Equita and support investments developed by teams dedicated to private equity and renewable infrastructure.
Research and Global Markets
The collaboration also extends to research and financial markets. BCCs will be able to access the analyses of Equita's research team, to support investment and advisory activities, and benefit from the company's experience in the Global Markets area and its network of investors and issuers.
The coordination of the agreement will be entrusted to a strategic committee composed of the top management of Equita and Iccrea Banca, supported by operational committees dedicated to individual areas of collaboration.
Iccrea enters the capital
Iccrea Banca's entry into Equita's shareholding structure took place through a reserved capital increase, with the issuance of approximately 3,4 million new shares, and the purchase of an additional 5,1 million shares from certain manager-shareholders of the company.
The resources raised by Equita through the capital increase amount to approximately 20 million euros and will help finance part of the acquisition of Xenon Private Equity, an independent private equity firm with over 30 years of history and approximately €1 billion in assets under management.
A new framework for growth
The operation therefore allows Equita to strengthen its alternative asset management division and to further diversify the business model, while also counting on a new long-term industrial partner. The shares held by Iccrea Banca will be subject to a three-year lock-up. After the closing, Equita's management will remain the company's largest shareholder, preserving the group's current diversified capital structure and independence.
For Equita, the agreement opens access to a large pool of companies, entrepreneurs, and investors distributed throughout the country. For the BCC Iccrea Group, it represents an expansion of the specialized services that the BCCs will be able to offer their customers.
