Edizione, 21 Invest and Tages have reached a preliminary agreement for the creation of 21 Next, described as an innovative alternative asset manager dedicated to private markets.
Upon completion of the transaction, the newly created platform will wholly own 21 Invest and Tages. The founding shareholders of the two companies as well as their respective senior managers will reinvest in significant minority stakes in the new entity, ensuring strategic continuity and alignment with investor interests.
Alessandro Benetton is appointed Chairman of 21 Next, with Panfilo Tarantelli taking the role of CEO.
21 Next writes that it will leverage its Italian roots to pursue an innovative, industrially focused international approach to offer a diverse range of complementary private market strategies.
The new platform will operate through a wholly owned asset management company, capitalising on 21 Invest’s expertise in Private Equity and Venture Capital, along with Tages’s experience in Energy Transition, Infrastructure and Private Credit. This combined industry know-how will underpin an ambitious expansion plan across Europe, focusing on high-potential investment sectors with significant global growth opportunities.
With the backing of its founding partners, 21 Next writes that it aims to at least double its assets under management to over EUR10 billion in the coming years. “The new vehicle will continue to invest across Europe, a particularly dynamic market with an average annual growth of over 8 per cent, a trend expected to continue. Its highly fragmented nature combined with an attractive growth potential provide meaningful consolidation opportunities.”
This flexible investment model also opens pathways to future partnerships with leading market operators, the firm writes.
21 Next will harness the diversified and complementary expertise of each of the three founding partners. The management of 21 Invest and Tages will continue to manage their existing funds and drive the launch of new ones under the 21 Next’s umbrella, providing investors with a broader, more international platform.
21 Next will also benefit from EUR500 million in seed capital from Edizione to fund ambitious new initiatives. The platform will deliver strategic business development and coordinate the expertise of its three founders:
Edizione, a financial and industrial holding company valued over EUR14 billion, and active in more than 100 countries through 15 leading companies. Edizione brings a vast global partnership network and extensive know-how in the sectors in which it operates, fostering business synergies and supporting international growth, the firm says. Cross-sector diversification and pollination is central to Edizione’s growth strategy.
21 Invest, founded by Alessandro Benetton in 1992, with approximately EUR1.5 billion of AUM, has for the last 30 years been one of Europe’s leading private equity firms focusing on the small & mid-cap sector, with offices in Italy and France and a growing presence in Spain. Having invested over EUR2 billion in the growth and industrial development of more than 110 Italian and French SMEs since inception, 21 Invest has delivered aggregate portfolio company sales growth of 70 per cent and created over 10,000 jobs. Its extensive experience investing in Europe will play a key role in the platform’s future expansion. The firm has recently launched a new healthcare-focused fund.
Tages, founded by Panfilo Tarantelli, Sergio Ascolani and Salvatore Cordaro in 2011, with Umberto Quadrino as current CIO and Chairman, writes that it boasts a seasoned international management team. Tages is a leader in renewable energy –Italy’s second-largest solar energy producer with installed capacity of approximately 1 GW – and infrastructure and energy transition sectors, with AUM of approximately EUR1.4 billion and over EUR3 billion in invested capital. Recent investment strategy expansions include the launch of the Tages Credit Fund. Tages is also about to launch Tages Infra Plus, a new fund dedicated to value-add infrastructure investment opportunities, focused on the mid-market.
