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Our investment teams have distinct strategies and focus on investing in mid-market companies in a variety of sectors in the US and Europe.

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News

Bregal Milestone Announces the Sale of Epipoli to Investcorp

Date: 16 Jan 2025
Category: Portfolio news
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London, UK, 16 January 2025 – Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Epipoli (“the Company”), a leading and fast-growing international alternative payments enabler, from investment firm Bregal Milestone and Epipoli founder & CEO Gaetano Giannetto, who will remain a significant minority shareholder and will continue to lead the Company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in Milan, the Company was founded by Giannetto in 2000 and has developed the largest CRM and loyalty programme in Italy, with over 6 million consumers. It established its gift card business in 2006 and launched Italy’s first prepaid Mastercard in2012, cementing its leading position in the market. Today, the Company works with millions of customers, thousands of distributors and hundreds of retailers, with unique expertise in the retailing markets and a turnover of around400 million euros.

Epipoli operates at the intersection of payments, employee rewards and customer engagement services. Investcorp will help the Company to further accelerate its growth plans as it continues to build out its payments and services platform and expand its offering to more customers in Italy and internationally.

Since Bregal Milestone’s initial investment in 2019, Epipoli has experienced a transformative growth path, progressively consolidating its leadership in a large and fast-growing reference market, while increasing gross revenues by 4x and completing three add-on acquisitions across Italy and Switzerland.

"Investcorp is pleased to be acquiring Epipoli. Leveraging our strong experience in technology and helping businesses internationalise, we will support Epipoli in further expanding its international reach across Europe. Epipoli has truly built a leadership position within alternative payments in the Italian market. We were impressed by the commitment of Epipoli’s management team and quality of its platform and product offering, as well as the opportunities to further develop the alternative payments platform created by the Company 25 years ago. We look forward to working with Gaetano and the entire team on this new stage for the Company."

José Pfeifer

Head of European Private Equity Buyouts - Investcorp

"Bregal Milestone have been instrumental to our major expansion over the last years. We look forward to the next chapter of our growth. Investcorp’s knowledge of the payments industry make it the perfect partner for our next phase. Further, the firm’s long history and experience in the Italian market, as well as experience in supporting high-growth companies, made us confident that they would help us to continue to grow in Italy and internationally."

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Gaetano Giannetto

CEO and Founder - Epipoli

"We are proud to have collaborated with Gaetano and his team at Epipoli during this pivotal stage of their growth journey. Over the past few years, we have worked together to scale the business through both organic and inorganic initiatives, solidifying Epipoli’s position as a market leader. We wish Epipoli continued success in their next chapter."

Philippe Lautenberg Testimonial Image

Philippe Lautenberg

Managing Partner - Bregal Milestone

Since 2012, Investcorp European Private Equity has invested more than €2 billion in companies across Europe. Investcorp has a long history of investing in and supporting technology-enabled businesses, with notable investments including Stowe Family Law, SEC Newgate, Eficode, ABAX, Vivaticket and Innova Semplice. The agreed acquisition of Epipoli follows successful previous investments in other Italian headquartered companies, including SEC Newgate, Innova Semplice, Vivaticket, and Dainese.

Epipoli and Bregal Milestone have been advised by UBS as exclusive financial advisor, and PedersoliGattai and Alma LED as legal counsels.

Investcorp has been advised by Clearwater as financial advisor and ADVANT Nctm as legal advisor.

The transaction remains subject to customary regulatory and other closing conditions.

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