BC Partners Completes Take Private of IMA Group Alongside Vacchi Family

Feb. 10, 2021, London: BC Partners, a leading international investment firm, alongside the Vacchi family, has completed the take private of IMA Group, world leader in the production of automatic packaging machines. The business has been fully delisted from the Milan stock exchange and BC Partners and the Vacchi family now control 100% of IMA.

Founded in 1961 in Bologna, Italy, IMA Group is an established global leader in its market, employing approximately 6,200 people in 45 production plants across the world. It specialises in the design and manufacturing of automatic machines for the processing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, foods and beverages, as well as a material presence in electric motor production processes – and in the last year has proven itself to be more valuable than ever, supplying many of the worlds pharmaceutical companies, and international government bodies, with COVID-19 vaccine production lines and face-mask production machinery.

The acquisition – which was negotiated and finalised during the COVID-19 pandemic – is one of the largest take-private deals on a European stock exchange, and highlights BC Partners’ strategy of investing in market leaders with strong management teams and multiple value-creation levers.

Stefano Ferraresi, Partner at BC Partners, said:

"We are thrilled to welcome IMA to the BC Partners portfolio and look forward to working with the Vacchi family and IMA’s management team to support its next stage of growth through strategic investments, adoption of new technologies and maximising opportunities for organic growth”.

Alberto Vacchi, Chairman and CEO of IMA, said:

“We welcome this new partnership with BC Partners, who share our vision for the future of our group. Their wealth of experience will be critical in helping us continue to evolve, building on the success we have already achieved to cement our position as a world leader in our sector.”

Note to editors

About BC Partners

BC Partners is a leading international investment firm with over €33 billion of assets under management in private equity, private credit and real estate. Established in 1986, BC Partners has played an active role in developing the European buy-out market for three decades. Today, BC Partners executives operate across markets as an integrated team through the firm's offices in Europe and North America.

Since inception, BC Partners Private Equity has completed 119 private equity investments in companies with a total enterprise value of over €150 billion and is currently investing its eleventh private equity fund. For more information, please visit www.bcpartners.com.

About IMA

Founded in 1961, IMA is a world leader in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for the processing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, tea and coffee. The Group has approximately 6,200 employees, of which approximately 2,400 abroad, and has 45 production plants in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Malaysia, China and Argentina. IMA has an extensive sales network consisting of 29 branches with sales and service in Italy, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Spain, Poland, Israel, Russia, the United States, India, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Brazil, representative offices in Central and Eastern European countries and more than 50 agencies covering a total of approximately 80 countries. IMA S.p.A. has been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 1995 and in the STAR segment since 2001. The following industrial companies are part of the Group: Atop S.p.A., Benhil GmbH, Ciemme S.r.l., Co.ma.di.s. S.p.A., Corazza S.p.A., Delta Systems & Automation Inc., Eurosicma S.p.A., Eurotekna S.r.l., Ilapak International SA, Ilapak Italia S.p.A., Ilapak (Beijing) Packaging Machinery Co. Ltd., IMA Automation Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., IMA Automation Switzerland SA, IMA Automation USA Inc., IMA Life North America Inc., IMA Life (Beijing) Pharmaceutical Systems Co. Ltd., IMA Life (Shanghai) Pharmaceutical Machinery Co. Ltd., IMA MAI S.A., IMA North America Inc., IMA-PG India Pvt. Ltd., IMA Swiftpack Ltd., Perfect Pack S.r.l., Petroncini Impianti S.p.A., PharmaSiena Service S.r.l., Record S.p.A., Spreafico Automation S.r.l., Tecmar S.A., Teknoweb Converting S.r.l., Telerobot S.p.A., Tissue Machinery Company S.p.A., Valley Tissue Packaging Inc.