Third-generation family shareholders of Salice SpA sold the majority of the Group to Cobepa S.A., a Belgian investment company backed by large entrepreneurial European families. The transaction is a pivotal moment in the Group’s family longstanding history, as Cobepa’s entry marks a new phase of investment and development.

The shareholders of Salice S.p.A. were assisted by Equita K Finance (Clairfield Italy), part of Equita Group, as financial advisor, Studio Legale Sarzi Sartori, Studio Legale Cenna and Studio Tributario Ronda e Associati for the legal and tax aspects. KPMG handled the accounting and tax vendor due diligence while TAUW Italia performed the EHS vendor due diligence.

Cobepa was assisted by Pedersoli Studio Legale for the legal, tax and labour part, by New Deal Advisors for the accounting due diligence part, by Roland Berger for the business due diligence and by Marsh/ERM for the EHS due diligence. White & Case and Houlihan Lokey assisted the buyer in structuring the financing.

The transaction was financed by a syndicate of banks consisting of UniCredit, Natixis, Credit Agricole, Intesa Sanpaolo and Deutsche Bank as Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners. UniCredit acted as Agent and Security Agent. Gattai, Minoli, Partners advised the banking pool.

The family shareholders grew the almost 100-year-old business, specialized in furniture fittings, opening systems and wardrobe accessories, into a market leader reaching a consolidated revenue of more than Euro 200 million in 2021 thanks to the progressive launch of innovative and patented solutions. Partnering up with Cobepa will reinforce Salice’s leading market position and help unlock further growth opportunities, in terms of both geographical expansion and penetration of new market segments. The Salice family will remain as minority shareholders and, to ensure a correct transition and guarantee managerial and operational continuity, Francesca, Massimo and Sergio Salice will maintain their current roles within the company.

“This transaction represents a significant turning point in the history of Salice. We are convinced that this new development phase starting today will offer the widest opportunities for growth not only for the company, but also for all the Group’s employees”, say Francesca, Massimo and Sergio Salice. They add: “We chose Cobepa as our new partner because we believe they share our corporate and human values. Cobepa has a solid reputation in accelerating the development of companies by leveraging their human capital and skills, while stimulating the potential and the entrepreneurial spirit of the management teams it works with”.

Jean-Marie Laurent Josi, CEO of Cobepa, says: “We found in Salice a perfect example of Italian industrial excellence and we are proud to support them in their growth path”. Charles-Henri Chaliac, Group Managing Director, and Andrea Sartori, Principal at Cobepa, add: Leveraging on Salice’s strong values and foundations, we look forward to accompanying them in their journey to become the global leader in high-quality, premium functional solutions for the furniture industry”.

Salice is the Italian world leading player in the production of opening systems and functional components for the furniture industry, founded in 1926 by Arturo Salice. The Group has 3 production sites in Italy (Novedrate, Belluno and Colli al Metauro) and is present in 10 countries with 12 foreign subsidiaries. In 2021 Salice recorded net sales of approximately Euro 216 million with exports to more than 90 countries.

Cobepa is an independent, privately-held investment company with net asset value exceeding Euro 4.2 billion. Active since 1957 and independent since 2004, Cobepa is a well-recognized player in the private equity industry with offices in Brussels, New York and Munich. Salice represents Cobepa second buy-out transaction in Italy, after Enoplastic S.p.A. acquired in 2019.