From one fund to another to fly abroad. The Piadineria, the largest Italian fast casual food chain, will pass from the hands of Permira funds to those of the CVC Capital Partners fund, ready to support the company not only for its business in Italy, but also for its expansion abroad.
Revenue and EBITDA tripled in six years. Valuation 600 million
I Permira funds, a globally active private equity company which in Italy is led by Francesco Pascalizi, with the assistance of advisors Mediobanca and Rothschild, had acquired La Piadineria at the beginning of 2018 and supported the growth and transformation path of the Company, tripling in the last 6 years either turnover and ebitda. In financial circles, we talk about a valuation (in terms of “enterprise value”) around 600 million euros and the expectations for the 2023 turnover are over 200 million euros, at group level.
Born in Brescia from the idea of two friends
The La Piadineria group, founded in 1994 by two friends in Brescia, counts today 408 points of sale among restaurants in the city, shopping centers, outlets, retail parks, distributed in 65 cities, where they work 2.500 Guests, serving approximately 70.000 customers every day. The CEO is Donato Romano.
Before Permira's entry, the group had been controlled by the group since 2015 Idea Taste of Italy fund, of the De Agostini group. What brought it to success was a formula based on the union between the speed and affordable prices typical of fast food and the trends of recent years, which are more attentive to the experiential side. Today, La Piadineria's offer is based on 30 types of piadine, whose base is prepared in the Montirone factory, in the province of Brescia. Subsequently, in the stores, the bases are filled in various ways. In 2021 the group launched the new La Piadineria Tasty&Free format, dedicated to consumers who do not eat gluten and lactose.
The CVC fund: ready for internationalization
Hvc was born in 1981 as the European division of Citicorp Venture Fund, one of the largest private equity funds internationally (and one of the most active in Italy). “We are thrilled to support a solid company like La Piadineria, which has placed product quality and customer satisfaction at the center of its offer to the consumer, becoming an industry leader thanks to operational excellence and a unique and distinctive format,” he said. declared CVC director Alessandro Baccarin. “Cvc is ready to support the company in its next growth path, through the further expansion of the business in Italy, the diversification into other formats fast casual, e internationalization. We look forward to working with Andrea Valota and the management team to lead the next successful chapter of La Piadineria,” concluded the director.
