BC Partners seals buyout of Italy’s IMA

ROME: BC Partners will team up with the largest shareholder in Italy’s IMA Industria Macchine Automatiche SpA to acquire the machinery maker and take it private, in a deal valuing the company at about €2.9bil (US$3.4bil).

The private equity firm and SOFIMA Società Finanziaria Macchine Automatiche SpA – which owns 51.6% – will launch a mandatory tender offer for outstanding IMA shares at €68 per share, according to a statement Tuesday, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg. The deal shapes up to be one of this year’s biggest private equity buyouts of a listed European company.