Lone Star is selling Italian coffee maker Evoca.

Professional coffee knowledge exchange more coffee bean information please follow the coffee workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style)

Us private equity fund Lone Star has hired Deutsche Bank to explore the potential sale of Evoca, an Italian maker of vending machines and coffee machines. It is reported that the latter is valued at about 1.5 billion euros.

Evoca, founded in 1924 and headquartered in Bergamo, Italy, is the world's leading manufacturer of vending machines and professional coffee machines. The company has eight brands-Necta, Wittenborg, Saeco, Gaggia, Ducale, SGL, Newis and Cafection. Gaggia's first coffee maker, invented in 1938 to make espresso with cream on top, now accounts for less than 10 per cent of Evoca's total sales.

Evoca currently has more than 10, 000 customers and 1800 employees in more than 100 countries, with sales of more than 400 million euros last year and a core profit of about 95 million euros. The company has 8 production bases, 6 R & D centers and more than 600 registered patents around the world.

According to sources, Lone Star's move has attracted interest from other groups in the industry and private equity funds, and has contacted groups in Italy and the United States, and five potential buyers have taken the initiative to bid for Evoca. Evoca CEO Andrea Zocchi also confirmed the news from the side. The entire transaction process can last two to three months, but Lone Star may eventually decide to keep Evoca in its portfolio.

The global coffee industry has recently gone on a buying spree. In September, American beverage giant Coca-Cola announced the acquisition of British coffee chain Costa Coffee for $5.1 billion (see for details: Coca-Cola spent $5.1 billion to acquire British coffee chain Costa Coffee, whose parent company has invested more than 200 times in 23 years! )

In May, Nestle of Switzerland bought the exclusive marketing and distribution rights of packaged coffee and tea drinks from American coffee chain Starbucks for $7.15 billion. (for details: Nestl é spent $7.15 billion to acquire the exclusive distribution rights for Starbucks' global packaged coffee products when its opponent became a teammate.)

As more and more consumers around the world are willing to pay high prices for high-quality coffee, the field of professional coffee machines is also expanding. "Coffee maker manufacturers are benefiting from continued growth in coffee consumption around the world," said Andrea Zocchi. We will launch five new Gaggia-branded machines next year, and we plan to expand in foreign markets, including the United States. "

Related recommendation: is hand-made coffee really good? Why does coffee smell better than it tastes?