Permira, investment company active globally, announces that it has signed (through one of its subsidiaries) a binding agreement with IDeA Taste of Italy, an Italian fund specialized in the agri-food sector managed by DeA Capital Alternative Funds SGR, for aAcquire control of the La Piadineria Group.
Founded in 1994, La Piadineria operates in Italy in one market, that of fast casual, in great development in Italy and in Europe.
The formula proposed in the "La Piadineria" brand stores is based on the offer of over 30 types of piadina, prepared with a dough entirely produced in the Montirone (BS) factory. The piadinas are cooked and stuffed at the moment according to the customer's request, with always fresh ingredients purchased from Italian suppliers to guarantee the highest quality of the product.
The group is led byCEO Donato Romano, under whose leadership, in the last four years, La Piadineria has doubled its network of points of sale, tripling its turnover – the company is expected to generate around 2017 million in turnover and around 60 million in EBITDA in 20. La Piadineria is currently present in Italy with 165 restaurants located in shopping centers and urban areas mainly in Northern and Central Italy; in 2017, the Group opened the first two restaurants in France (in Nice and Marseille).
Donato Romano, CEO of the La Piadineria Group, he commented: “We are very happy with the agreement reached with the Permira Funds, and we are convinced that in the coming years our Group will be able to make the most of the growth opportunities that the market will offer us. Our ambition is to strengthen the leadership of La Piadineria in Italy and accelerate the development path abroad. We are very proud of the work done so far with IDeA Taste of Italy and we are pleased with their decision to reinvest together with the Permira Funds”.
Fabrizio Carretti, Responsible for Italy of Permira, commented: “In recent years, La Piadineria has distinguished itself thanks to a business model that combines the offer of a high quality product oriented towards consumer tastes, with competitive prices and efficient management of the network of points of sale. We strongly believe in the management team led by Donato Romano, which has already achieved important results in terms of growth. We will support La Piadineria in entering new markets, and we will put our experience in the sector and our international network at the service of the Group".
Pierluca Antolini, Managing Director of IDeA Taste of Italy, commented: “We are happy to have accompanied the company on such an important path of organic growth and external lines, placing it in a leadership position in the fast casual restaurant segment in Italy. We confirm our commitment to participate in a further development phase of the company carried out by Permira together with a management whose competence and solidity we value."
