Equinox investment fund buys Italian jewellers VPA, Vendorafa Lombardi
The Equinox investment fund has announced the creation of a new fine jewellery group in Italy. The Italian investment fund, with registered office in Luxembourg, has bought a 100% stake in two jewellers, Villa Pedemonte Atelier (VPA) and Vendorafa Lombardi, via the Radix Sarl investment company, which will eventually own a 66% stake in the new holding company. The remaining 34% will be held by Jarx, a company controlled by VPA’s shareholders.
The amount of the transaction was not revealed. Both jewellers will retain their current management team, and their businesses remain for the time being independent. In a press release, Equinox stated that altogether the two companies - located in Valenza, Piedmont’s jewellery manufacturing hub - have a total of 220 employees, a revenue of €41 million and EBIDTA of over €5 million.
Equinox was founded in 2002 by financier Salvatore Mancuso, who passed away last April. One of the investment fund’s first operations in the luxury sector was the acquisition in 2003 of British footwear brand Church's from Prada, which then bought the brand back in 2006. In February 2019, Equinox bought a 40% stake in Manifattura Valcismon, an Italian textile manufacturer which, among others, produces cycling jerseys for the Castelli brand.
Vendorafa Lombardi is specialised in jewellery and goldsmithing. Villa Pedemonte Atelier instead focuses on large-scale jewellery production, and works exclusively for leading international brands, chiefly from France and Switzerland. Both companies have been in business for several decades.
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