Investment Solutions
Clessidra Private Equity is an Italian private equity platform with over twenty years of activity in the small and mid-market segment. We invest in Italian entrepreneurial businesses — typically family-owned, leaders in their reference segment — where the depth of our relationships within the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, our ability to create operational value, and a track record built across multiple market cycles represent a concrete and lasting competitive advantage.
We are not financial managers: we are operational partners with a long-term perspective. We build a clear growth plan alongside management from day one and execute it with discipline. Our objective is not simply to grow the business during the holding period: it is to deliver, at exit, an organisation capable of performing independently — with solid governance, a strengthened management team and a sustainable growth trajectory already firmly in place.
This philosophy is expressed through two complementary, non-overlapping strategies — Clessidra Capital Partners (mid-cap buyout) and Clessidra Green Harvest (small-cap buyout) — each with a dedicated team and a structured ESG approach fully integrated into the investment process.
Clessidra Private Equity is an active manager with a long-tenured team, deeply rooted in the Italian market and supported by senior industry specialists with direct sector experience. Our investment opportunities arise from relationships built over time with entrepreneurs, family shareholders and industry participants — a relational foundation that is difficult to replicate and that gives us access to high-quality situations outside of traditional intermediated processes.
Both strategies share the same core principles: majority investments in Italian companies typically family-controlled, full partnership with entrepreneurs and management, and value creation driven by operational execution. ESG and digitalisation are structural levers systematically integrated throughout the investment cycle.
- Clessidra Capital Partners — control buyouts in Italian mid-sized companies with an Enterprise Value between €100 and €500 million. The strategy invests flexibly across industrial goods and services, non-discretionary consumer and business services, with a focus on niche champions with strong international reach, defensible competitive positioning and significant operational transformation potential. Equity tickets range from €40 to €100 million.
- Clessidra Green Harvest — dedicated to small-cap companies across the Italian agri-food value chain, a pillar of the national economy and a structurally growing sector driven by exports. The strategy covers the entire value chain — production, processing, distribution and adjacent segments such as agritech, functional ingredients and sustainable packaging — with a focus on companies with highly specialised products and strong international orientation. Average equity ticket of €15–30 million. Classified as SFDR Article 9, with decarbonisation targets aligned to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Clessidra Private Equity works in close partnership with the entrepreneurs and management of portfolio companies to pursue the shared growth plan at every stage of the investment management process, through to the identification of the most appropriate exit path. Our active management approach begins before closing: a detailed value creation plan — with clear strategic priorities, governance objectives and measurable operational milestones — is defined and shared with management prior to acquisition, ensuring full alignment and immediate execution from day one.
- Active, direct involvement of the Clessidra team in the management of investee companies: Managing Directors maintain a primary role at board level and in strategic initiatives throughout the holding period
- Strengthening of the management structure through the selective introduction of new senior profiles to support entrepreneurs, with particular attention to generational transition and governance evolution
- Support for international revenue growth and, where consistent with the investment thesis, selective pursuit of consolidation opportunities to build scaled industrial platforms
- Systematic integration of ESG and digitalisation as concrete operational levers: reporting and analytics infrastructure, environmental efficiency, human capital development — with measurable objectives and continuous monitoring through specific KPIs
- Full and transparent ESG performance reporting to investors, based on annual KPI monitoring
Clessidra PE’s five core industries, which include sectors most widely involved in Italian private equity investments in recent years, continue to highlight interesting fundamentals for investors.
Clessidra Private Equity enjoys a significant competitive advantage in these sectors, thanks to a solid track record of investments and the extensive experience and deep relational network of the investment team and Industry Specialists.
Industrial Goods & Services
Consumer Products & Retail
Financial
Services
Business
Services
Healthcare
Industry
Food
Value Creation
Clessidra Private Equity is the reference partner for Italian entrepreneurs facing business challenges such as generational succession, strategic repositioning, and international expansion.
We Support "Made in Italy" for the Global Market
Clessidra Private Equity invests in companies operating in sectors of “Made in Italy,” where Italy boasts a leading global position and significant potential for international growth. Typically, target companies are leaders of excellence in their respective sectors with a strong propensity for exports and products characterized by high-quality standards.
We Strengthen the Managerial Structure and Support Strategic Choices of Family-Run Businesses
The Italian economy is characterized by the presence of family-run businesses facing the challenge of generational succession. Clessidra Private Equity investments aim to provide solutions to generational transition, supporting strategic decisions, expansion into new markets, and strengthening the managerial structure. Investments are typically made in partnership with the owning family to preserve business know-how.
We Implement Buy-and-Build Strategies in Fragmented Sectors
Clessidra Private Equity pursues the development plan of its portfolio companies through buy-and-build strategies and transformational acquisitions. Over the investment period, Clessidra Private Equity has completed more than 30 add-on operations for its portfolio companies.
We Develop the Consolidation Potential of Italian Companies
Clessidra Private Equity selectively invests in leading companies in their respective sectors with strong growth potential in markets characterized by low penetration levels, significant entry barriers, and consolidation opportunities. In such sectors, which offer good visibility of potential future returns, companies’ growth opportunities are identifiable through economies of scale, increasing productivity, and efficiency.
