Ugo Salerno, chairman and ceo of Italian classification society Rina, has made good on his promise to diversify and expand. Rina has bought out UK rail consultancy Edif Group from Phoenix Equity Partners for £118.5m.
Rina is funding the acquisition through an equity capital injection from its financial shareholders VEI Capital and NB Renaissance Partners together with a new financing facility provided by three banks.
Salerno said the deal takes Rina’s annual turnover to close to EUR500m and positions the classification society closer to listing in either Milan or London, something Salerno sees as viable within the next 30 to 36 months.
In an interview for Splash’s recently published Italy Market Report magazine, Salerno outlined a “strong and targeted acquisition programme”, aimed at making revenues from overseas exceed its Italian business in the coming years.
