Wise Equity, the management company for the Wisequity V Fund, announces the acquisition of 60% of Cantiere del Pardo, an Italian group operating in the production and commercialization of sailing and motor boats and owner of the brands Grand Soleil Yachts, Pardo Yachts and VanDutch.
This is the third deal of the Wisequity V Fund, that last year raised € 260 million in less than two months since its launch. Cantiere del Pardo is an historical Italian shipyard. Founded in 1973, it has established itself as one of the main players of modern yachting, always offering its loyal customers boats with elegant and innovative designs combined with high racing performance and superior quality. The shipyard achieved about € 58 million in 2019/2020 and the order book for 2020/2021 projects a growth above 25%.
With this deal, Gigi Servidati and Fabio Planamente wanted to open the capital structure to an historical Italian private equity player, aiming at continuing the path they started in 2014, when they took over the shipyard’s management. In these 6 years the shipyard has launched 8 new sailing boat models, introducing the Grand Soleil Long Cruise line, and has entered the motorboat segment presenting 4 new models and recently acquiring the VanDutch brand. In the coming years, with the current management at helm of the shipyard, the objective will be to continue to invest both in the offer of sailing boats and in the development of the powerboat segment.
The goal, in line with the history of Cantiere del Pardo, is on one hand to strengthen the leadership in the 30-80 feet segment and, on the other hand, to evaluate opportunities for expansion in other segments. In addition, management will pursue opportunities to acquire brands complementary and synergic with the current offer of Cantiere del Pardo, replicating the recent VanDutch brand acquisition.
The deal was overseen by Wise Equity partner Michele Semenzato together with Bruno Barago as investment manager. Michele Semenzato, Wise Equity Founding Partner, said: “Cantiere del Pardo represents a history of great success in a sector in which Italy has a strong tradition and world leadership. We are happy to be able to support an excellent management team that has achieved an incredible turnaround of the shipyard. Future projects include the development of both the sailing segment and the powerboat segment. In the former, the shipyard has a great tradition built on attention to design and construction quality, elements that will not only be maintained, but strengthened and placed at the base of the future developments. In the latter, the journey has just begun, but many successes have already been achieved and the goal is to build on the this initial, successful path”. Fabio Planamente, CEO of Cantiere del Pardo, stated: “In the decision to open up the capital structure to provide additional resources for development of the company, we paid strong attention to the choice of the partner. We found in Wise Equity the partner we were looking for, not only for their twenty years of experience in accompanying medium-sized Italian companies in their path of growth and internationalization, but also for their industrial mindframe that we are sure will allow us to have a shareholder sensible to the peculiarities of our sector”. Gigi Servidati, President, commented: “The entry of the new shareholder Wise Equity has a strategic importance for us to ensure an acceleration in growth and the achievement of the many ambitious goals we have set ourselves.
For us, this means having the strength and resources to develop new innovative models, both sailing and motor boats, that will meet the needs of shipowners who have been trusting us for years and who see our shipyard as a point of excellence. Having the resources to reduce the time to market of our models rewards the expectations of those who have believed for years in the strength of our premium brands: Grand Soleil Yachts, Pardo Yachts and, recently, VanDutch”.
Advisors:
For Wise Equity:
– Financial Advisor: Cassiopea Partners, with partner Stefano Trentino, Pietro Romiati and Gabriele Khamaisi;
– Legal Advisor: Simmons & Simmons, with partner Andrea Accornero, Paolo Guarneri and Ida
Montanaro;
– Fiscal Due Diligence and structuring of the deal: Studio Spada Partners with partner Guido
Sazbon supported by associate Francesco Podragrosi;
– Accounting Due Diligence: KPMG with partner Alberto Galliani supported by Anna Cimmino and
Davide Brunelli.
For Cantiere del Pardo:
– Deal Advisor: Mediobanca, with managing director Antonio Da Ros, Paolo Malvestiti, Michele
Faustini and Giovanni Mano;
– Legal Advisor: Studio Legale Musumeci, Altara, Desana, with name partner Toti Musumeci,
partner Marco Lazzarin and associate Leonardo Musumeci.
About Wise Equity SGR S.p.A.
Wise Equity (www.wisesgr.com) specializes in managing closed‐end Private Equity funds that invest in small and medium‐sized companies with a focus on Italy. The funds managed by Wise equity typically invest through leveraged buyouts and capital increase transactions and target companies that are leaders in their niche markets. The two major objectives are to increase a company’s critical mass through “build‐up” transactions in order to enhance competitiveness and profitability, and to foster international development. Wise Equity, owned by its management team, currently has three funds under management: Wisequity III, with committed capital of over Euro 180 million and one investment remaining in its portfolio – NTC– after having completed disinvestments in Eidos Media, Kijan, Primat, Biolchim, Colcom Group, Controls and the majority of its position in Alpitour. Wisequity IV, with committed capital of Euro 260 million has invested in eight companies: Corob (partially divested), Imprima, Tapì, Tatuus Racing, Aleph, Trime, Innovery and Waycap. Lastly, Wisequity V, which completed its fundraising in July 2019 reaching its hard cap of Euro 260 million, has completed two acquisitions: Fimotec and Vittoria.
About Cantiere del Pardo
Since 1973, Cantiere del Pardo represents one of the most prestigious and appreciated company for luxury yachts production with more than 4.500 units built so far. The mission is to produce yachts with the highest quality standards accentuated by an elegant and innovative design, constantly aligned with evolving market trends and needs. Today Cantiere del Pardo is a prestigious company well-known for sailing and motor yachts completely made in Italy, strengthen by a commercial network in continuous expansion both in Italy and abroad. Cantiere del Pardo currently owns three brands: Grand Soleil Yachts, reference brand for sailing yachts, Pardo Yachts and VanDutch Yachts leader in the motorboats segment.
