Cronos Capital Partners, alongside a group of private investors, acquired a majority stake in Everton, the Genoese tea, herbal‑infusion, and soluble‑preparation manufacturer, via a newly formed vehicle funded primarily through a substantial capital increase aimed at financing international growth and M&A activity. The operation marked a shift from full family control (held by the Dodero‑Donelli group) to a majority‑backed, partnership‑style structure, with founding shareholders Filippo and Federico Dodero remaining in top management roles alongside the existing executive team to ensure continuity. The strategic rationale centers on Everton’s position as Italy’s leading private‑label tea producer, with over 500 SKUs, three production sites in Italy, India, and Croatia, and a joint venture in the US. For Cronos Capital Partners, Everton represents a resilient, anti‑cyclical, export‑oriented industrial platform in a consolidated yet fragmentation‑prone segment, with a clear playbook for growth via targeted acquisitions of other Italian and international operators in the same tea, infusion, and soluble‑beverage space. The transaction is therefore structured to unlock capital for both organic expansion (new production lines, capacity increases) and inorganic growth, while preserving the entrepreneurial and operational DNA of the founding family.

EVERTON, which reported an EBITDA margin of LOGIN in 2019, is valued in this transaction at an EV/EBITDA multiple of LOGIN, representing a LOGIN discount to the average currently observed in the AgriFood sector (10.3x).

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