H.I.G. Capital will launch a process to exit Project Informatica in 2Q25, four sources familiar with the situation told Mergermarket.

Rothschild is overseeing a sale of Italian information technology (IT) services provider, three of the sources said. Rather than a structured auction process, a select group of two to three private equity funds will be invited to look at the dossier, one source said.

The advisor is expected to market Project Informatica based on its 2024 EBITDA, which exceeded EUR 30m on revenue of more than EUR 400m, one source said.

Private equity (PE) firm H.I.G. Capital, which acquired a controlling stake in the business in July 2020, is expected to completely exit its position, all four sources said.

The sponsor hired Rothschild in an attempt to sell the business in 2022. Project Informatica attracted first-round bids at more than 10x its EBITDA, and a handful of sponsors including Chequers and Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) were among PEs admitted to the second round, as reported by this news service in February 2023.

In April 2023, the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore reported that only Chequers Capital was still in the running to acquire the company. Negotiations were put on hold as H.I.G. Capital decided to complete its acquisition of Fasternet first, sources said then, as reported.

However, one source said now that while the market had anticipated Project Informatica’s return to the auction block in 2024, H.I.G. Capital was focused on divestments, including the sale of Italian hospital-services provider Deenova to Equiter Infrastructure II, a fund managed by Ersel Asset Management, in November.

In June last year, H.I.G. Capital also sold Acqua & Sapone, an Italian non-food discount retailer, to funds managed by TDR Capital LLP.

At the time of H.I.G. Capital’s investment, Project Informatica generated more than EUR 130m in revenue and had 230 employees. The business has since acquired Padua-based systems integrator 3P Technologies, in April 2022, as well as Italian cybersecurity company Fasternet in November 2023.

According to Mergermarket‘s Likely to Exit (LTE) predictive algorithm*, Project Informatica has a score of 52 out of 100.

H.I.G. Capital, Project Informatica, and Rothschild declined to comment.

by Micaela Osella and Valentina Caiazzo in Milan

*Mergermarket’s LTE predictive analytics assign a score to sponsor-backed companies to help track and predict when an exit could occur through M&A, an IPO, a direct listing or a deSPAC transaction.