Private equity firm BC Partners acquired Nicole Fashion Group SpA – a European bridalwear company – via their subsiadary company Pronovias.
Founded in 1986 as one of the few truly pan-European buy-out investors, BC Partners has grown and evolved into a leader in buy-outs, principally investing in larger businesses in the region and selectively in North America through its established network of offices in London, Hamburg and New York. BC Partners continues to identify attractive investment opportunities by focusing on the best balance of risk and reward for its investors and is currently advising funds totalling over €17 billion.
Since inception, BC Partners has completed 102 acquisitions with a total enterprise value of €127 billion and has delivered superior returns through economic cycles, demonstrating discipline in bull markets and an ability to invest in attractive opportunities amidst turbulence and recession.
Interview with Fabio Marazzi at Marazzi & Associati
Please tell me about your involvement in the deal?
The firm has been acting on behalf of the client since some time and in this specific transaction myself, as Senior Managing Partner, in collaboration with my team: Partner Nicolo’ Ghibellini, IP and Data Privacy Expert; Silvano Mazzantini, Partner and expert in Public Issues, and Senior Associate Margherita Barletta. We all represented the client in each step of the negotiation.
My role, as Senior Managing Partner, was to manage the daily activity of my team, supervise them and attend any meetings with the other party, by always being physically next to my client.
What challenges arose? How did you navigate them?
As usual, when we have to act on a family owned company, the most intriguing issue is the wall preventing the family owned dimension and management progressing to a bigger scenario without any related legal issues.
Additionally, in this specific transaction, where we had to analyse, examine and negotiate more than one shareholders agreement and devise a sophisticated Management Incentive Plan, the Sellers also had to realise each benefit behind the transaction in a short time, as the negotiation itself started mid of May and closed on the last day of June.
