LONDON/ROME, February 5th, 2020 – Bain Capital Private Equity, a leading global private investment firm, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling stake in the Engineering Group, the leading Italian IT services business from funds advised by Apax Partners and Neuberger Berman. Bain Capital is partnering with Neuberger Berman that will invest again into the business, primarily from its new fund NBRP III.
Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Rome, Engineering is one of the main players in the field of digital transformation of public and private companies and organizations, offering an innovative range of platforms for several market segments. With more than 11,000 professionals in 65 locations (in Italy, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Republic of Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil and the USA), Engineering designs, develops and manages innovative solutions for the business areas where digitalisation is having the biggest impact, including Digital Finance, Smart Government & E-Health, Augmented City, Digital Industry, Smart Energy & Utilities, Digital Telco & Multimedia. The Group combines competences in next-generation technologies, technological infrastructures organised in a single hybrid multicloud and the capability to implement new business models. With significant investments in R&D, Engineering plays a leading role in research, by coordinating national and international projects thanks to its team of 420 researchers and data scientists and a network of academic partners and universities throughout Europe.
“The Engineering Group is a key player in digitalisation with strong client relationships and a reputation for customer service, reliability and innovation,” said Luca Bassi, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Private Equity. “We believe the Engineering Group has the potential to grow further in a very fragmented market, both organically and through acquisitions, and look forward to partnering with the management team and Neuberger Berman to accelerate this, as we have done in other Italian technology companies, such as Teamsystem, Nexi and Cerved.”
Paolo Pandozy, CEO of Engineering, said: "We are delighted to welcome Bain Capital as a new shareholder, to support our project of growth at national and international level. In Bain Capital we found a partner who understands the sector in which we operate and shares our vision for a strong long term potential for the Group. We look forward to the support of Bain Capital in extending our successful track record and exploiting the important new opportunities offered by technological developments and meeting the increasingly important goals of our clients, supporting them in facing the new challenges brought forward by technological evolution."
The transaction remains subject to approvals by competent regulatory authorities.
For Engineering, the entire transaction on the legal, fiscal and financial fronts was followed by the internal departments coordinated by the CFO Armando Iorio. PWC prepared the Vendor Due Diligence (Financial and Tax) and Accinni, Cartolano e Associati acted as legal advisor for the management team.
Bain Capital was advised by BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Mediobanca, Bain &Company, New Deal
Advisors, Pirola Pennuto Zei & Associati and Gattai, Minoli, Agostinelli & Associati.
About the Engineering Group
Engineering is one of the main players in the field of digital transformation of public and private
companies and organizations, offering an innovative range of platforms for several market segments.
With more than 11,000 professionals in 65 locations (in Italy, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Republic of
Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil and the USA), the Engineering Group designs,
develops and manages innovative solutions for the business areas where digitalization is having the
biggest impact, including Digital Finance, Smart Government & E-Health, Augmented City, Digital
Industry, Smart Energy & Utilities, Digital Telco & Multimedia. Through its activities, the Group
contributes to modernizing the world in which we live and work, combining competences in nextgeneration
technologies, technological infrastructures organized in a single hybrid multicloud and the
capability to implement new business models. With significant investments in R&D, Engineering plays
a leading role in research, by coordinating national and international projects thanks to its team of
420 researchers and data scientists and a network of academic partners and universities throughout
Europe. One of the group’s key strategic assets is its employees’ know-how, to whose training it has
dedicated a multidisciplinary School which has provided more than 21,000 days of training during the
last year.
About Bain Capital Private Equity
Bain Capital Private Equity (www.baincapitalprivateequity.com) has partnered closely with
management teams to provide the strategic resources that build great companies and help them
thrive since its founding in 1984. Bain Capital Private Equity’s global team of approximately 240
investment professionals creates value for its portfolio companies through its global platform and
depth of expertise in key vertical industries including healthcare, consumer/retail, financial and
business services, industrials, and technology, media and telecommunications. Bain Capital has 19
offices on four continents. The firm has made primary or add-on investments in more than 760
companies since its inception. In addition to private equity, Bain Capital invests across asset classes
including credit, public equity and venture capital, managing approximately $105 billion in total and
leveraging the firm’s shared platform to capture opportunities in strategic areas of focus.
For more information, visit www.baincapitalprivateequity.com
