Private equity firm Wise Sgr has mandated Klecha to explore a sale of Italian systems integrator Innovery, three sources familiar with the situation told Mergermarket. 

The advisor is prepping for a potential process, and a structured sale is expected to be launched in the coming months, the sources said. Klecha is testing the market, contacting some private equity firms potentially interested in this upcoming dossier, a fourth source familiar said.

Klecha started providing Wise with financial advisory a few months ago, when the fund was approached by an undisclosed private equity firm interested in acquiring Innovery, one of the sources said. 

Wise and the private equity held exploratory talks, but did not reach a deal due to too large a mismatch on price, this source said, without suggesting a potential valuation. 

The company could be marketed off around EUR 12m-EUR 13m in expected 2023 EBITDA, as reported. It turned over more than EUR 315m in 2022, according to a company statement. 

Both private equity firms with a background in the space and industry players will be invited to bid, one of the sources said. Innovery is seeing a lot of interest due to the appealing industry in which operates, one said, another adding that investors’ appetite for similar dossiers is very strong on the market. 

According to Mergermarket's Likely to Exit (LTE) predictive algorithm*, Innovery has a score of 57.

Wise Equity acquired a 69% stake in Innovery in June 2019 for undisclosed terms, advised by Simmons & Simmons and Spada Partners. Innovery had posted EUR 27m turnover in 2018, double the figure from three years before, as reported. 

Under Wise’s ownership, Innovery has grown organically and via M&A, with acquisitions including Spanish cybersecurity specialist Open3S for an undisclosed sum in July 2022; cybersecurity-focused Italian systems integrator NB Service in September 2020; and Obiectivo, a Rome-headquartered cybersecurity company, in August 2020. 

Klecha, Innovery and Wise declined to comment. 

*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.