Investcorp, a manager of alternative investment products announced it has reached an agreement on the sale of Dainese SpA to investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ) for an enterprise value of €630 million.
Founded in 1972, Dainese is in protective equipment and technical gear for motorcycling and dynamic sports. The company is present across EMEA, APAC and the Americas – and distributes its products across more than 100 countries.
Investcorp acquired Dainese in January 2015 from its founder, Lino Dainese, and has worked closely with the management team to drive both international growth and expansion of the company’s product offering. Under Investcorp’s ownership, Dainese more than doubled its sales to €250 million, and grew EBITDA at a double-digit rate on a compounded basis each year. Over a six-year journey, Dainese evolved from an Italian, product-focused, business into the global standard for dynamic sport protection.
Since 2012, Investcorp has invested €1.6 billion in companies across Europe. The successful sale of Dainese follows successful previous investments in other Italian brands, such as Gucci and Riva. Investcorp’s current Italian portfolio includes CloudCare, Vivaticket and Corneliani.