Cosimo Vitola
Ethica Group
Cellularline
Deal Type
Company sale
Sector
Technology
Completion Date
14th January 2018
Deal Value
Not disclosed
Company Background
Founded in 1990, Cellularline is the Italian leader, and is among the main European operators, in the development and sale of accessories for smartphones and tablets. The 2016 consolidated financial statements showed a production value of € 164.5 million and an EBITDA of € 38.4 million.
The wide range of products with the Cellularline brand is sold in over 60 countries and about 50% of sale volumes in 2016 were generated abroad. Cellular Italia is now owned by the founding families of Aleotti and Foglio ("Founders") alongside private equity funds L Catterton, Motion and DVR (“Funds”).
Deal Summary
Ethica Corporate Finance advised Cellularline in the integration with Crescita S.p.A., Italian SPAC listed on AIM Italia, to be implemented through the merger by incorporation of Cellularline.
Crescita is a SPAC created in March 2017 by Massimo Armanini, Cristian D'Ippolito, Marco Drago, Carlo Moser, Antonio Tazartes, Alberto Toffoletto and DeA Capital S.p.A., which raised €130 m mainly from Italian institutional investors.
The funds provided by Crescita will be used to strengthen Celullarline's leadership and expand its international presence, increase penetration in both traditional and online distribution channels, development of new product ranges and acquisition in oder to reach a positioning that will interest an increasing number of investors.
Value Added
Ethica co-advised L Catterton and the other shareholders of Cellularline in identifying the best strategic options for the group by performing a solid and thorough strategic review, involving Italian and international Private Equity investors. Such work allowed to realize that a further buy-out was not the "first best" option for the group, its shareholders and management considering the solid expansion plan that management had put in place and the willingness of all shareholders to remain somehow involved in the business going forward. Thus, reach was extended to different alternatives and Crescita was identified as the best possible option to further fuel and accelerate future growth, and at the same time keep all key shareholders and management individuals on board.
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