Deals

Green Arrow Capital acquires majority stake in Richetti

The Italian firm deployed capital from its Fund III, which closed on €230m in 2018, and is the firm’s dedicated private equity vehicle.

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Asset manager Green Arrow Capital has acquired a majority shareholding in Italian food business Richetti. Financial details were undisclosed.

Richetti specialises in chilled and frozen dairy-based snacks, ready to eat meals, frozen pizza and deserts. The company supplies supermarket retailers and food service providers.

Milan-based Green Arrow Capital deployed capital from its Green Arrow Private Equity Fund III, which closed on €230 million in 2018, to make the investment.

The firm primarily invests in clean energy and infrastructure, private credit, real estate and private equity – the Richetti investment falls under its private equity business unit, which also houses Green Pack Holding, a supplier of packaging products to food businesses, among others.

In 2021, Richetti reported more than €50 million in sales, with chilled snacks representing approximately 80 percent of the total and an EBITDA margin of about 15 percent of revenues, a statement from Green Arrow Capital said. Approximately 60 percent of the company’s revenues were generated outside Italy.

“In the past few years, Richetti’s top line grew at a double-digit rate thanks to the rapid development of the European chilled snacks market, with an estimated European value expected to reach €2 billion,” the statement said.

“These results were underpinned by positive underlying trends including increasing snacking consumption habits, consumers’ growing attention to the healthy features of products (in the case of milk slices, the absence of preservatives and artificial colours combined with the ‘functionality’ of wholesome ingredients such as milk and yoghurt) and the ‘brand stretch’ marketing strategy of large confectionery groups extending into adjacent and higher growth categories such as chilled dairy snacks and ice creams.”

Green Arrow Capital private equity managing director Massimo Massari commented: “We strongly believe that the investment in Richetti represents an exciting opportunity to capitalise on the growth prospects of the healthy snacking market, also through the widening of the products range.”

The Italian firm has approximately €2 billion in assets under management.