Allison sold by It Holding to Paladin Capital Partners
It Holding Group sold its 100% investment in Allison to Paladin Capital Partners SpA, part of Carisma Group (not related to It Holding Group). The deal was executed for an enterprise value of € 62 million, including € 57 million of net debt and € 5 million of equity, of which € 4 million were transferred today and €1 million at a future date. It Holding SpA incurred a € 3.8 million capital loss versus the book value as of September 30, 2004.
For It Holding this transaction is in line with the strategy of focusing on its core business: the development of clothing and accessories collections for its owned - Gianfranco Ferré, GF Ferré, Malo, Extè - and licensed brands - D&G, Versus, Versace Jeans Couture, Just Cavalli, and C'N'C Costume National.
It Holding Group confirms Allison as the licensor for the eyewear collections of its owned brands and the guidance of revenue growth for 2004 is in line with that reported in the first half of the year.
Allison became part of It Holding Group in 1999, thus putting its unique know-how and experience in the sector at the service of some leading international brands. Having generated revenues in the first half of 2004 of € 44.5 million and a pre-tax income of € 228 thousand, Allison is a success story thanks to the innovative design and high technological content of its products and to a controlled and selective distribution system.
'It is a splendid operation', comments Silvio Vecellio Reane, Chairman of Allison, 'which strengthens the mission we set ourselves when the company was established in May 1999: to become one of the world eyewear leaders. Our new reference partner Carisma Spa will be a shareholder who is used to considering long-term investments and represents a unique source of managerial, organisational and strategic experience. There will be no revolutions at Allison: the current management team is involved in the new shareholding and will remain to complete Allison's development programme, also as a guarantee of continuity of the sales policies followed up to now'.
'The decision to sell the Allison business is consistent with the sale last January of the Itf perfume division and with the choice to concentrate on our own brands and on the young lines', says Tonino Perna, It Holding Chairman and Ceo, 'all in view of focusing on the group's core business'.
Carisma will seek with the management the best ways to further develop Allison, starting from its excellent skills in the sector. Carisma investment has a medium/long time frame and aims to create value for the company, the licensors, and the trade.
Carisma SpA is the holding company of Bain & Company Italy, a leading strategic consultancy firm in Italy. Carisma acquired recently some minority stakes in companies with growth prospects in Italy and abroad.
