After Botter, the fund Clessidra acquires the majority of Gruppo Mondodelvino

After finalizing the acquisition of a majority stake in Botter Spa, a Venetian company among the largest exporters of Italian wine in the world, held by the Botter family and the fund IDeA Taste of Italy managed by DeA Capital Alternative Funds SGR Spa (we wrote about it here), Clessidra Private Equity Sgr, on behalf of the fund Clessidra Capital Partners 3, today signed an agreement for the acquisition of a majority stake in Mondodelvino, one of the leading Italian wine groups (120 million euros turnover in 2020, with exports accounting for 90%) that today has five production plants in Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Sicily, led by the Martini family, who founded the company together with Roger Gabb and Christoph Mack in 1991. As was the case with the Botter family, which re-invested in the group and continues to hold managerial positions, the Martini family will remain in the shareholding structure and will continue to hold important operational positions, together with the rest of the company’s top management, thus ensuring the continuity of the company’s management.
Characterized by steady growth over three decades, Mondodelvino is now firmly positioned among the top twenty Italian wineries and among the top ten private ones. A path of development not interrupted even last year, which closed with revenues up over 6% and equal to 120 million euros, 90% of which were made abroad, mainly in the UK, Germany, Nordic countries, Canada and Russia. With MGM Srl, the main company of the group and its important estates Cuvage, Ricossa, Poderi dal Nespoli and Barone Montalto, the Mondodelvino group is today a reference point in the wine industry especially in terms of quality, innovation and sustainability.
This investment - according to the press release of the fund Clessidra - is part of the broader consolidation plan in the wine sector of Clessidra. Mondodelvino is, in fact, a further important step in the creation of an Italian leader in the sector, a player that, already considering the two companies in the portfolio, will become the first private Italian operator in terms of total revenues with € 350 million realized in 2020. Moreover, the two companies are highly complementary both in terms of wine denominations and in terms of geographical markets served.
“After the Botter operation, we continued to search for company profiles suitable for our project of creating an Italian leader in the sector”, comments Andrea Ottaviano, managing director Private Equity. “Mondodelvino, in terms of competitive positioning, international orientation and offer of denominations and brands has characteristics that are absolutely compatible with the strategic objective of consolidation. The decision to focus on Mondodelvino was also supported by the full sharing with the Martini family and the rest of the top management in our project”. Francesco Colli, managing director of Clessidra, then specifies that “Clessidra intends to enhance the respective areas of excellence of the two companies - Mondodelvino and Botter - while preserving their respective identities and at the same time ensuring a coordinated management at group level. In this perspective, the new group will be led by Massimo Romani, current CEO of Botter, who will also hold the position of CEO of Mondodelvino”.
The Martini family, founder of the Gruppo Mondodelvino, says it is “very happy that Clessidra has decided to include Mondodelvino in its consolidation project. We are aware of the role and importance of being able to count on a partner like Clessidra to accelerate the path of growth and development, while maintaining the values of the founders. We would like to thank our historical partners Roger Gabb and Christoph Mack for their valuable contribution during these 30 years and all the employees who have contributed to the success of the company. We are sure that Clessidra and its team will support us in this new path, in line with what is already happening with Botter”.
The Botter family also commented positively on the operation: “we are very pleased that the Martini family and Mondodelvino have decided to be part of the project launched with us by Clessidra. The new group, in which we have invested, will represent a reference player for the entire Italian wine sector, being able to count on two companies with a strong competitive positioning in the main international markets and with a significant strategic complementarity”.