Ambienta takes majority stake in Frigoveneta

Ambienta acquired a majority interest in Frigoveneta on 17 January 2024, covering both Frigoveneta spa and Frigoveneta Service srl, from founders Giovanni Degan, Roberto Mambrin and Paolo Dall’Aglio, who each held a third of the capital and retained a significant shareholding alongside their operating roles. Founded in 1980 at Villa Bartolomea in the province of Verona, Frigoveneta designs, builds and sells centralised refrigeration installations, the systems cooling an entire supermarket or cold store from a single plant room serving every cabinet and chamber. Its customers are food retailers and cold chain logistics operators, among them leading operators in both markets. The principal company recorded revenue of €10–30M and an EBITDA of €5–25M for the twelve months to 30 June 2023, with net cash of 2.5 million euros. Two regulatory pressures are reshaping the market the company serves. European rules are progressively withdrawing the fluorinated refrigerants on which most existing installations depend, obliging operators to replace plant that would otherwise have run for years, while energy consumption represents a principal operating cost for a refrigerated warehouse or a supermarket, making efficiency a commercial matter as much as an environmental one. The technical capability required limits who can perform the work, since installing and maintaining systems operating on alternative refrigerants demands certification and experience that the market is producing more slowly than demand for it is growing. The European commercial refrigeration market is worth approximately 12 billion euros and remains divided among regional specialists, which Ambienta intended to consolidate around Frigoveneta, developing it into the principal independent supplier of centralised systems in Italy and establishing a presence across Europe. It was the firm’s first investment in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration. Mediolanum Investment Banking advised the founders, with Studio Legale Pedrett Pradella Campara as legal counsel, while Ambienta drew on Bain for commercial due diligence, EY for financial, operational, technology and environmental work as well as debt advice, Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici for legal, tax and structuring, and AON for insurance.

The acquisition of Frigoveneta is part of the growth strategy of Ambienta, which already has several external growth operations under its belt, notably Holweg Weber in 2022.