Milano Capital (a private equity and strategic consulting firm led by Gabriele Bavagnoli and Gianluca Longhi), flanked by a club deal of high-profile private investors, has announced the acquisition of a minority stake in the Landoll group, which manufactures and distributes premium haircare products under the Nashi and Nashi Argan brands (see the press release here).
The news of a possible deal on Landoll’s capital was expected: as early as February 2019 BeBeez had announced that the company was in the crosshairs of private equity funds (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
The company is now controlled, through ABT Holding srl, by Fabrizio Ascoli and Paolo Bergami, with 46.5% each, and for the rest by Elisa Laura Ascoli and Maryna Khrapach, with 3.5% each. Upon completion of the transaction, Mr. Bavagnoli will sit on the board of directors.
Milano Capital involved high-profile investors in the transaction including: Nicola Volpi, former ceo of Permira who works together with a group of investors gathered in BIC Capital; Hydra of the Volta family, to which the Datalogic group belongs; GDTre of the entrepreneur Giovanni Domenichini; Deimos by the entrepreneur Maurizio Bazzo; Evolution 4 by Daniela Bertagnin Benetton; Evolution 11 by Carlo Bertagnin Benetton; Luca Pretto Holding, of the homonymous entrepreneur, shareholder and ceo of Pasubio spa; BG Asset Management by Maurizio Borletti and Paolo de Spirt, both former shareholders in Milan-listed Spac Spactiv (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Mr. Bavagnoli was in fact one of the promoters and ceo of Spactiv.
Bird & Bird, Deloitte, Key2People and CLA assisted Milano Capital in the transaction. Studio Lexis, SAT-TAX Administrative and Tax Studio, BonelliErede and Banca Akros have joined Landoll.
Landoll, manufactures and markets high-end hair products under the Nashi and Nashi Argan brands. Distribution takes place through a network of over 7,000 hairdressers and 18 single-brand sales points in Italy and in 40 other countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In 2021 the group had a turnover of around 26 million euros (+ 28% compared to 2020), generating an ebitda of around 6 million. Over the past 10 years, the company has grown on average by 18% per year.
Mr. Bergami, managing director of Landoll, said: “After a thorough selection, we are extremely satisfied in choosing Milano Capital as a partner to support us in the further acceleration of the ongoing strengthening of the brand. Thanks to Milano Capital and the other new investors, we are convinced that we can further step up our ambition both in Italy and in international markets”.
Mr. Bavagnoli explained: “Hair care is a sector of great interest, at the intersection of cosmetics, health and lifestyle, and is growing all over the world. Italy has some of the world’s leading producers, mainly subcontractors, but very few global brands. Among these, Nashi Argan stands out as the one with the greatest potential, due to over a million online followers on social media, the coherence of its business model, the quality of its products and the consistency of its growth trajectory. Together with our co-investors, we are proud to contribute to the growth of the brand alongside the entrepreneurs who created and developed it”.
Still in the field of hair cosmetics, we remind you that last December Mandarin Capital Partners, through the Mandarin Capital Partners III fund, acquired from the Pisana family the majority of Procosme, a research center and cosmetic formulation of excellence, specialized in the creation of lines especially personalized trichologicals used in the formulation of professional hair products (see here a previous article by BeBeez). The acquisition of Procosme was conducted through the newly formed Ymenso, a holding company that aims to reach 50 million euros in revenues through organic growth, but also by seizing opportunities for aggregation by external lines. Procosme then added under the control of Ymenso the other subsidiary of Mandarin active in hair products, which is Nuova Fapam, present in Italy with a network of over 800 affiliated salons, of which 200 under the Tagliati X Il Successo brand, of which the fund had acquired 72.45% in October 2020, with Alessandro and Domenico Parnazzini holding 13.77% each (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
