MILAN – According to sources, private equity firm Peninsula Capital has made a binding offer to buy 23% of Illy Group, the holding company that owns both the premium coffee brand illycaffè and the non-coffee businesses of the Illy family. Peninsula is interested in buying the stake in the hands of Francesco Illy.
The deal needs to get the approval of the other family members, who own the remaining 77% of the group, in order to be finalized, sources said.
The deal would give an equity value of more than 1 billion euros to Illy Group, one of the sources said.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Chairman of illycaffè S.p.a. Andrea Illy, Francesco’s brother, speaking on behalf of the family, said he declined to comment on the issue.
The business is still run by the family that founded the roaster in the northeastern city of Trieste in the 1930s.
Illy Group had sales of 483 million euros in 2018, and operates in more than 140 countries. It has been expanding its network of cafes on shopping streets, in museums and in airports.
Illy hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in October to find a partner to expand its business in the U.S. market.
Peninsula Capital is an independent investment firm based in London, focused on Private Equity investments in Southern European markets and Latin America
