CVC Credit is leading a group of private credit funds to support TPG’s buyout of Sicit Group, according to 9fin sources.

TPG entered into exclusivity to buy the Italian firm after outbidding BC Partners and Warburg Pincus, sources said, confirming an earlier IlSole24Ore report.

The debt package is talked at around €300m and is based on a FY2024 EBITDA of €50m, sources added, which would give the transaction an opening leverage of 6x. The structure of the facility has yet to be finalised, sources noted.

Sell side advisor Lazard explored a dual-track process for NB Renaissance’s sale of its stake in the Italian company, initially working with four banks that assembled a €300m club deal, as 9fin reported.

But ultimately, private credit’s higher rate of execution in volatile markets, even if more expensive than bank capital, pushed TPG and Lazard to opt for that.

Direct lenders snapped up a few large deals from banks after US president Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” shut primary market activity. A similar trend happened in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when aggressive rate hikes in response to soaring inflation drove leveraged deals to shift to private credit, as banks couldn’t syndicate debt efficiently.

NB Renaissance, part of the Neuberger Berman private equity platform, became the majority shareholder of Sicit alongside Intesa Holding after taking the company private in 2021. Intesa Holding is owned by 33 entrepreneurs who founded Sicit and will keep its 50% stake.

Four years after the tender offer, NB Renaissance is reviewing its exposure to Sicit, but plans to reinvest in a minority stake through a new investment vehicle.

Founded in 1960 in Chiampo, Vicenza in Italy, Sicit produces high-value protein hydrolysates derived from animal and plant origins. The company had €80m of revenue in the year it was delisted, and acquired a 51% stake in Patagonia Biotecnologia, a Chilean group that produces and distributes seaweed-based bio-stimulants, in 2023.

Lazard, TPG, CVC, NBR and Sicit did not respond to a request for comment.

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