Wise Equity sells Controls Group to Nova Measurements

Wise Equity has sold Controls Group to Nova Measurements LLC. No financial terms were disclosed. Based in Italy, Controls is a provider of laboratory and on-site precision testing equipment for the construction and civil engineering industries.

PRESS RELEASE

Milan, 23 December 2019 – Wise Equity, Di Iorio and Emdin families sold Controls Group to Nova Measurements LLC, a US holding company with remarkable track record within the testing and measurements industry.
For over 50 years, Controls S.p.A has been the global leader in the design, manufacturing, and supply of laboratory and on-site precision testing equipment for the construction and civil engineering industries. Testing equipment meticulously designed to deliver the most reliable results for its customers, establishes Controls as the industry leader in civil engineering testing.

Headquartered in Liscate, Italy, Controls serves clients with international offices in the USA, UK, France, Spain, Poland and Mexico. Controls supplies customers in more than 120 countries, also through a network consisting of over 100 distributors worldwide, and a dedicated team of product specialists, Controls boasts the largest and most capable technical sales and support team in the industry.

Wise Equity invested in Controls in 2016 to partner with the historical shareholders in further strengthening Controls positioning as global leader within its market niche and prepare the company for the programmed generational renewal.

Michele Semenzato, co-founding partner at Wise Equity SGR, who followed the investment in Controls together with Marco Mancuso, Investment Manager said, “Controls is the perfect example of the companies we like to invest in. A small multinational with a clear leadership position within its market niche. We are proud of how the company has developed in recent years, and we are confident Controls has the perfect foundations to further develop with the new shareholder”

Pasquale Di Iorio, shareholder, Chairman and CEO of Controls Group for the last 25 said “With the acquisition of Nova Measurements Controls wraps up the programmed generational renewal. The new shareholder will create the best platform to further develop the international footprint of the Company, which has always been at the core of Controls, together with the development of the most advanced testing technologies for the civil engineering industry“.

The sale represents the seventh partial or total exit for the fund Wisequity III, out of the 8 companies in which it was originally invested. Following this distribution, the distributed capital will exceed 2.2x the invested capital.

Wise Equity has been advised as legal counsel by Simmons & Simmons with Andrea Accornero, Paolo Guarneri and Ida Montanaro.

About Wise Equity SGR
Wise Equity (www.wisesgr.com) specializes in the management of Private Equity closed-end funds, investing in small and medium-sized companies, with a special focus on Italy. The funds managed by Wise Equity are typically involved in Leverage Buy-Out and capital increase transactions, dedicated to companies that are leaders in their niche markets. The two major objectives are to lead “build-up” transactions, in order to enhance competitive-ness and profitability, and to push the international development. Wise Equity, controlled by the management team, has currently three funds under management:

Wisequity III, with commitment exceeding 180 M€, has one remaining company in the portfolio: NTC, having realized the investments held in Eidos Media, Kijan, Primat, Biolchim, Colcom Group, Conrols Group and the majority of its stake in Alpitour.

Wisequity IV, with commitment of 215 M€, is invested in eight companies: Corob (partially divested), Imprima, Tapì, Tatuus Racing, Aleph, Trime, Innovery and Waycap.

Wisequity V, which completed the fundraising in July 2019 reaching the hard-cap of 260 M€.