Bluegem announces acquisition of Italy’s Panzeri

Mid-market fund Bluegem Capital Partners has announced the acquisition of Panzeri Diffusion, an Italian company which operates in the professional haircare sector.

Bluegem announced the acquisition through its portfolio company Pool Service.

Founded in 1999, Panzeri is active in the sector of professional hair cosmetics and has a portfolio of its own brands, such as z.one concept, milk_shake, No Inhibition and Simply Zen, Depot and Urban Tribe.

Last year, the group generated a total revenue of around €49m.

Bluegem Capital Partners co-founder Emilio Di Spiezio Sardo said: “The deal fits perfectly into the investment strategy of Bluegem III, which is focused on consumer staples with strong cash generation that have demonstrated resilience during the delicate phase of Covid-19.”

Bluegem acquired the Pool Service/Medavita group in September last year to create an aggregator platform in the professional hair cosmetics sector.

The merger of the two groups will create a new entity, called BeautyNova.

With an aggregate pro-forma revenue of around €90m, the new company will have a share of exports exceeding 60% of revenue in more than 70 countries, including branches in China, Latin America and the US.

BeautyNova will have more than 12,000 own product formulations, an internal R&D team and a portfolio of own brands.

The development project will be led by Pool Service CEO and shareholder Stefano Banfo over the next few years.

Banfo said: “We have a long-standing business relationship with Ivano Panzeri and his team and we look forward to combining these highly complementary businesses to create the third largest Italian haircare group.”

In Italy, the market of professional haircare is estimated to be worth €540m.