Investcorp to invest in Italian alternative payments enabler Epipoli
Bahrain's Investcorp Capital will invest in Italy's Epipoli, a fast-growing enabler of international alternative payments.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange-listed company announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Epipoli from investment firm Bregal Milestone and Gaetano Giannetto, the founder and CEO who will continue to lead the company.
Investcorp acquires Epipoli stake
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but in a filing with the ADX, the alternative investment company said it would have deployed $280 million in investments since the beginning of the financial year.
Epipoli was founded by Giannetto in 2000 and has developed the largest Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and loyalty program in Italy with over six million customers. It established its gift card business in 2006 and launched Italy's first pre-paid Mastercard in 2012. Today, Epipoli works with millions of customers, thousands of distributors and hundreds of retailers, with unique expertise in the retailing markets and a turnover of approximately EUR400 million.
Epipoli operates at the intersection of payments, employee rewards and customer engagement services. Investcorp 's investment is expected to help the company further accelerate its growth plans as it continues to build out its payments and services platform and expand its offering to more customers in Italy and internationally.
Tim Mattar, Chief Executive Officer of Investcorp Capital, commented: 'Leveraging Investcorp's strong experience of investing in technology-enabled enterprises and helping businesses internationalise, Investcorp will support Epipoli in further expanding its reach across Europe.
'Our investment demonstrates Investcorp Capital's commitment to identifying and targeting growth opportunities to deliver the best possible returns for shareholders.'
Epipoli has experienced a transformative growth path following Bregal Milestone's initial investment in 2019. It has consolidated its leadership position while increasing gross revenues by 4x and completing three add-on acquisitions across Italy and Switzerland.
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