An Italian company acquires a US one and vice versa. The double operation is of today and is absolutely reciprocal: if in fact the historic Italian brand of luxury footwear Bruno Magli was taken over by American private equity company Marquee Brands (Neuberger Berman group), it is always in these hours the news that the historic Pittsburgh steel mill, Precision Kidd Steel, got into my hands of a young Italian private equity group based in New York: V&A Capital, created in 2013 by Nicolo' Vergani
As reported by some agencies, V&A Capital has in fact completed the acquisition of the entire share package of one of the best-known American steelmakers based in Pittsburgh. Founded in 1885, Precision Kidd is one of the few companies to have survived the deep crisis and the consequent waves of restructuring that affected the sector in the United States between the 12,5s and 80s. The transaction is valued at approximately $30 million including the assumption of debt. Precision Kidd, which manufactures specialty steel profiles for a variety of markets including automotive, oil & gas, real estate and precision engineering, employs approximately XNUMX people and has revenues of approximately $XNUMX million with double-digit operating margins.
As for Bruno Magli instead, the registered office of the Italian company will be transferred to New York at Marquee Brands, while the shoes and leather products "will continue to be packaged in Bologna and manufactured in Italy", specified the buyer. The transaction is expected to close in early 2015. Founded in 1936 and based in Bologna, Bruno Magli was in administration after several changes of ownership and before being auctioned by the Court of Bologna. Marquee Bramds, in competition with the Carlyle fund and Blue Star, bought it for 28,5 million euros.
