At least four private equity funds are in talks to buy a majority stake in Italy’s fourth largest supermarket chain, Esselunga, in a deal worth up to €6 million, market sources told Reuters.
The negotiations, managed by Citigroup, started a few months ago, before the passing away of Esselunga founder Bernardo Caprotti.
UK-based BC Partners is one of the two funds that have recently entered the race and are allegedly prepared to offer more than Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners.
Italy’s Investindustrial has been was informally contacted but it has yet to decide wither to bid. Another source close to the talks points out that the size of the transaction could be challenging for some private equity funds and that a consortium could be possibly set up with other Italian partners.
Meanwhile, Blackstone and CVC have nearly completed their due diligence and are very interested in the asset, according to the same sources.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
