Milan, 27 April 2026 – Clessidra Private Equity SGR (“Clessidra PE”)– the Private Equity firm part of Clessidra Group, one of the leading players in the Alternative Investment sector in Italy – announces that it has exceeded the fundraising target of Clessidra Capital Partners Green Harvest, a closed-end alternative investment fund focused on companies operating in the extensive Italian agrifood sector, launched last July. The second closing was achieved ahead of schedule, bringing total commitments to over €150 million.
The fundraising process saw the participation of leading institutional investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF, part of the EIB Group), Fondo Italiano d’Investimento, alongside the Group’s longstanding investors. The fund, classified as an Article 9 fund under the SFDR Regulation due to its decarbonization strategy aligned with Science Based Targets (SBTIs), aims to complete its fundraising by the end of 2026.
Clessidra Capital Partners Green Harvest aims to invest, with a preference for majority transactions, in the Italian agrifood small and medium-sized enterprise sector, highly attractive both for the number of opportunities and for the strong potential for growth and consolidation. The fund builds on the strength of the solid track record developed of Clessidra PE and its team over more than twenty years of investment experience in this sector in Italy.
Last November, the fund completed its first investment, acquiring a 70% stake in Laurieri S.p.A., a distinguished Italian company specializing in the production of sweet and savory baked goods. Founded in Matera in 1976, Laurieri, with revenues of approximately €20 million – over 90% generated in international markets – and EBITDA exceeding €5 million, is currently completing, under Clessidra’s guidance, a process of management strengthening and expansion of its production capacity to meet growing demand from international markets.
- Along with Andrea Ottaviano, CEO of Clessidra Private Equity SGR, the deployment will be managed by a dedicated team led by two Managing Directors of Clessidra Private Equity, Emanuele Cuccio and Marco Guglielminetti, both with an extensive investment experience in the Italian market.
“Clessidra Capital Partners Green Harvest marks a strategic milestone for our Group, to broaden our presence in the SME market and focusing on the agrifood segment that, for over twenty years, has been central to our private equity investment strategy, while maintaining the same philosophy and mission consistency – commented Andrea Ottaviano. Our goal is to capitalize on the longstanding experience of our network in a highly attractive segment such as the Italian agrifood supply chain — among our country’s leading contributors to GDP — characterized by a wealth of family-owned businesses with strong growth potential. While Clessidra PE has expanded in both structure and investment scale, we continue to see significant opportunities in this market segment, within a solid and profitable supply chain, with genuine and lasting competitive advantages rooted in environmental sustainability.”
The fund has already identified a robust pipeline of additional investment opportunities, some of which are currently at an advanced stage of analysis, in line with its defined strategy and with the objective of building a strong and diversified portfolio within its target sector.
“Investing in the agriculture sector is a core priority for the EIB Group, as it underpins a vital pillar of the European economy”, said EIF Chief Investment Officer Marco Marrone. “This investment reaffirms the EIF’s key role in backing equity funds that drive the growth, resilience and competitiveness of Italian and European SMEs, while strengthening innovation and long-term value creation across the agrifood value chain.”
“The Italian agri-food system represents a strategic asset for the country, capable of combining tradition, quality, and strong international recognition. In this context, we believe it is essential to support initiatives that can strengthen the industrial structure of the value chain and foster its evolution towards greater competitiveness and sustainability”, said Luigi Tommasini, Senior Partner and Head of Strategic Initiatives at Fondo Italiano d’Investimento.
“As the First Cornerstone Investor in Clessidra Capital Partners Green Harvest, Fondo Italiano d’Investimento aims to make a tangible contribution to the mobilization of resources dedicated to the sector, with a particular focus on SMEs. The objective is to support them along growth, innovation, and international expansion paths, while at the same time enhancing the distinctive characteristics of Made in Italy and promoting consolidation processes aligned with the current and future challenges of the industry.”
****
About Clessidra Private Equity
Clessidra Private Equity is a leading private equity firm in the Italian market, with more than €3.3 billion of capital commitments across its funds. Founded in 2003, Clessidra Private Equity is controlled by Clessidra Holding SpA which is 100% held by Italmobiliare SpA, the listed investment holding company controlled by the Pesenti family. Since its inception, the firm has completed 31 investments for a total amount of €2.4 billion; in the same period, 54 add-on operations were concluded for its portfolio companies. Clessidra has completed the fundraising of its fourth private equity fund in 2023 and is currently in the investment stage. Last July, the Company also launched Clessidra Capital Partners Green Harvest, a closed-end alternative investment fund focused on companies operating across the broad Italian agrifood sector.
About Clessidra Group
With a track record of over 20 years, Clessidra Group stands out as one of the leading alternative investment operators in Italy, providing financial resources, qualified expertise, and experience in ESG integration to SMEs, while also meeting the wide demand for diversified products and services from major national and foreign institutional investors. To date, the Group invested over €2.4 billion in equity and, separately, deployed more than €1.5 billion across private credit and factoring. Founded in 2003 as an asset management company operating in Italy’s private equity, Clessidra Group has become one of the main operators on the Italian market in a very short period of time. In 2016, it was acquired by Italmobiliare SpA, a listed investment holding company on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2019, Clessidra Group launched a diversification strategy that has progressively expanded its business beyond its traditional private equity sector. Clessidra Group is now an independent platform operating in alternative investments, asset management and factoring, capable of offering a wide range of products and services for institutional investors and the Italian SME sector. Clessidra Group operates through three companies: Clessidra Private Equity SGR, Clessidra Capital Credit SGR and Clessidra Factoring, specialising respectively in private equity, distressed and non-distressed credit sectors and factoring.
