H.I.G. Capital Invests in Acqua & Sapone Alongside the Barbarossa Family

H.I.G. Capital, LLC ("H.I.G."), a leading global alternative investment firm with over $45 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce that one of its affiliates has completed the acquisitions of Cesar di Barbarossa Enio e F.lli S.r.l. (“Cesar”), Gruppo SDA S.r.l. Servizi Distribuzione Associati (“SDA”) and VDM Vaccaro Distribuzione Merci S.r.l. (“VDM”) (together, the “Companies”). The Companies operate under the Acqua & Sapone brand, Italy’s leading non-food discount retailer selling a wide range of household and personal care products at value prices through a network of over 700 retail locations. H.I.G. has acquired a controlling stake in the business, with the Barbarossa family reinvesting in a significant minority position. The Companies will generate over €900 million in revenues in 2021. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

H.I.G.’s investment will support the integration of the three Companies and accelerate their customer-focused expansion in Italy.

Stefano Giambelli, Managing Director of the H.I.G. European Middle Market LBO team, commented: “We have been impressed by Acqua & Sapone's track record of continuous growth and we see enormous potential in consolidating Cesar, SDA and VDM under the same umbrella. We are proud to partner with Nando Barbarossa and look forward to accelerating Acqua & Sapone’s growth.”

Markus Noe-Nordberg, Managing Director and Head of the H.I.G. European Middle Market LBO team, added: “We are thrilled to welcome Acqua & Sapone to the H.I.G. family. H.I.G. has had great success investing in leading family businesses, and we will use this experience to help Acqua & Sapone maximise its potential. This transaction is an ideal fit with our investment mandate and underscores once more H.I.G.’s ability to execute on complex transactions.”

Nando Barbarossa, on behalf of the Cesar shareholders, said: “We are delighted to partner with H.I.G. to keep building on our 40 year-long success story. By joining forces with H.I.G., we see enormous potential to further scale the business, improve service levels, achieve synergies and make Acqua & Sapone the undisputed leader in the Italian market.”

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global alternative assets investment firm with over $45 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with European offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, and U.S. and Latin American offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
4. H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates

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Contact information

Markus Noe-Nordberg
Managing Director
mnordberg@higcapital.com

Stefano Giambelli
Managing Director
sgiambelli@higcapital.com