Family buyouts: Ardian’s leadership in Italy

“The numbers give a measure of the huge growth this office has delivered,” says Nicolò Saidelli, Advisor to the CEO on Strategy and Acquisitions, Co-Head of Buyout, and Head of Ardian Italy. With 60 professionals on the ground and over $10 billion of equity invested, Ardian is today the largest international team in private equity in Italy.

Saidelli has been central to Ardian’s Italian operation since the beginning and has witnessed the team’s growth over the last 18 years. He explains that the country’s attraction lies in its “unbelievably fertile market of very successful mid-size – but also large-size – companies run by very creative entrepreneurs.” 

Today, press reports confirm the flourishing of the Italian private equity sector, which last year mobilized €56.4 billion across 496 deals – more than double the amount in 2023. According to Bain & Company's Global Private Equity Report 2025, there were 1,200 Italian companies under private equity ownership in 2024, with an average annual revenue growth of 9%.

Ardian's leadership in Italy 

Despite this success, Saidelli recalls that the Milan office launched into a highly uncertain environment at the time of the 2008 global financial crisis. “Between 2008 and 2012, more than 20 international private equity funds left Italy because of political and macroeconomic uncertainties,” he says. “Italy was perceived as pretty volatile, you could say.” 

Despite this, CEO & Founder of Ardian, Dominique Senequier, saw an opportunity where others saw risk. “She had the intuition to go against the trend and decided to open the office. During a period of global crisis, we established ourselves while others were leaving. Our growth, results and track record proved the decision right,” reflects Saidelli. “It was a pioneering and very courageous move.”

Almost 20 years later, all the international private equity firms have returned to Italy. “Every day, another operator is opening here because they can see the attractiveness of the Italian market,” says Saidelli. Today, the country is much more stable from a macroeconomic and political point of view, while Milan’s financial center is alive with a buzz the financial press has compared to “London in the 1990s".

In this context, the challenge is to maintain a leadership position. “We are fully equipped to do so with great teams across all our verticals,” Saidelli asserts. “The deal flow is strong, the opportunities are there, and we continue to see Italy as a very attractive place to invest.”

Family businesses in Italy 

A key part of Ardian’s strategy in Italy lies in family buyouts, in which the firm partners with entrepreneurs who need a financial shareholder to help with succession planning, ownership transition, or to structure a buyout agreement that ensures long-term business continuity. The latter is a key factor: many Italian entrepreneurs have a succession issue. Luckily, it is broadly known among entrepreneurs today that private equity can be a viable solution to this issue. 

Here, relationships are crucial. “We are always flexible and tailormade in our approach,” explains Saidelli. “The needs of each entrepreneur are unique, whether it’s in structure, raising capital, or attracting the right management team. This adaptability has become a competitive edge for us.”

One standout example of this approach is Ardian’s partnership with Neopharmed Gentili, one of the largest Italian pharmaceutical companies in primary care and still led by the second generation of the Del Bono family which founded the company. 

In 2018, the family chose Ardian to support their growth ambitions. Since then, the company has grown from €145 million in sales to over €310 million, achieving an impressive 45% EBITDA margin. Ardian facilitated six acquisitions for the company as well as helping to launch a €700 million bond that significantly reduced the costs of the debt held by the company. 

“We nurtured the relationship with the family for over a decade before the transaction,” recalls Saidelli. “When you deal with families, they have to know you, they have to trust you as a legitimate partner.” It’s a significant investment of time to build trust with the seller and understand the family dynamics. “But once the family decides to partner with you,” Saidelli notes, “the deal is yours.”

The relationship was so strong that in 2022, Ardian reinvested alongside another fund to support the company’s consolidation and international development. Today, the company continues to grow, with over €120 million of EBITDA (compared to €42 million at the outset). Most recently, the company is expanding in the rare disease space.

It’s a perfect example of a value creation partnership with a family and one of several successful deals Ardian has completed in the Italian healthcare sector. To give another example, Ardian’s work with the orthopedic implant maker Lima was recognized by Harvard Business School as a case study in corporate governance with portfolio companies.