Klecha & Co. has supported Gradiente SGR in acquiring a majority stake in Filoblu S.p.A., a business accelerator specializing in the management of online retail activity and digital services mainly for the fashion and consumer goods sectors.
Gradiente, in its fifth operation with the private equity fund Gradiente II, acquired a 67% stake in the Filoblu capital from various counterparts including Ardian Growth, which supported the Companies first round of investment in 2018, since then FiolBlu has tripled its turnover. The remaining 33% is now held by Christian Nucibella, who founded and continues to lead the Company.
Founded in 2009 in Venice, FiloBlu is a business accelerator for brands and retailers. The Company has established itself as a mission-critical partner, supporting global brands in the development and strengthening of their e-commerce channel within their integrated ecosystem. With a turnover of over 56 million euros in 2020, the Company has more than 200 employees, 4 subsidiaries abroad, and sales worldwide.
Gradiente will support FiloBlu in its further growth and affirmation as a leader in the digital market of ecommerce and services in digital transformation, allowing the Company to take advantage of meaningful bolt-on opportunities to expand its product offering and consolidate the competitive position of the Company in its reference market.
In the transaction Klecha & co. acted as financial advisor supporting Gradiente in the business due diligence activity.
"The growth of e-commerce is unstoppable: the European sector will exceed 600 billion in revenues by 2025, " said Stephane Klecha, Managing Partner of Klecha & Co. "Numbers confirm that the growth is accelerated by the new spending habits in light of the pandemic and that retailers will need to continue to increase their investment in digital to meet new consumer needs: in the first quarter of 2021, e-commerce globally grew by 58% compared to 17% in the first quarter of 2020 and 'Italy even grew by 78%, compared to 26% in 2020 . Filoblu has the experience, expertise and the perfect partner to be able to seize the opportunities arising from these trends. We are therefore particularly happy to be alongside Gradiente in this deal and, I am sure, they will be able to accompany FiloBlu in a new exciting path of growth".