Mergermarket M&A Forum Italy 2023
Recognising the best in the M&A community!
Milan
2022 Speakers:






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Nick joined PwC in 1999, working in the PwC Transaction Services Group in Milan. Since 2008 Nicola is Partner of the PwC Deals Strategy Group in Italy.
Since 2018 Nick is IM&A Global & EMEA Deals Leader and since 2020 he is EMEA Deals Clients & Markets Leader, in charge of business development activities within transactions at international level. Nick is responsible of IPO activities in PwC Deals in Italy, since 2019 leads the Italian PwC Family Offices & Governance practice and the ESG Value Creation Task Force.
Nick has led as Project Leader assignments in Italy and Europe in all key industries for major clients relating to commercial due diligence, acquisition business plan and strategic advisory of major M&A and IPO processes in the private sector for Corporate and Private Equity clients.
Nick has a Master Degree in Financial Economics from Essex University (UK) and attended several executive courses in the last years in top universities such as Instead Business School.

Alessandro has 20+ years of experience in Debt Capital Markets working for primary financial institutions and financial advisors in London and Milan.
Before joining PwC in 2016 as Head of the Debt Advisory division, Alessandro worked in Ethica Corporate Finance as Head of Debt Advisory, as Director in Rothschild Debt Advisory and as responsible for the Loan Syndication Italy desk in Royal Bank of Scotland (origination, structuring and negotiation of syndicated financing/club deal).
During his career, Alessandro has worked for several large and mid-market clients in domestic and cross-border transactions developing a deep knowledge of acquisition financing, refinancing, restructuring and structured finance.

Giorgio Barba Navaretti is Professor of Economics at the University of Milan, Distinguished Visiting Faculty at Sciences Po, Paris, Research Fellow of CEPR and Scientific Director of the Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano.
He has been working extensively on the economics of multinational firms, on firms’ dynamics and competitiveness, on international banking and capital markets and on several other international economic policy issues.
He serves as President of the Collegio Carlo Alberto Foundation and of the National Institute of Molecular Genetics (INGM) “Romeo and Enrica Invernizzi”. He sits in the Board of Unicredit Foundation, Fondazione Pesenti and Fondazione Agnelli.
He is or has been a consultant for many international organisations, including the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank, the World Bank, the OECD and the European Commission and for several Italian public institutions like the Bank of Italy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He is a non-executive director of Aon Italia, CheckMab and Fideuram-Intesa San Paolo Private Banking.
He published many papers in international academic journals and books, including Multinationals Firms in the World Economy with Anthony J. Venables (Princeton University Press; in Italian Le multinazionali nell’economia mondiale, Il Mulino) and Made in Torino? Fiat Chrysler e il futuro dell’industria, Il Mulino. He is a columnist for Il Sole 24 Ore, Editor of “European Economy. Banks, Regulation, and the Real Sector”, and a regular commentator on economic issues at Rai and Radio24 national radio news programs.
He has a PhD in Economics from Oxford University and a Degree in Economics from Bocconi University in Milan.

Arthur joined LBO France in 2010 and he is based in Milan since 2017. Previously, he spent 12 years in strategic consulting within L.E.K. in Paris, handling a number of projects for industrial clients and being involved in over sixty projects for Private Equity clients, mostly strategic due diligences in LBO context. He began his career in 1995 as a financial analyst at Schneider mainly in New York. Arthur graduated from HEC Business school.

Matteo Bertazzo
Intesa Sanpaolo, IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division - Head of M&A Energy
Professional with more than 20 years of experience with proven track record in power & utilities, renewables and oil & gas.
Responsible of M&A Energy team at Intesa Sanpaolo, IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division. Former head of M&A at UBI Banca and previously M&A Director Energy & Utilities at Banca IMI.
Matteo took part to the largest transactions in Italy in energy space advising energy and oil & gas corporate clients and infrastructure funds.
Graduated in Finance at Bocconi University, Milan.

Giovanni is Managing Director of goetzpartners’ Italian office, based in Milan.
As a strategy advisor with more than 26 years of experience in management consulting, Giovanni addresses issues such as corporate strategy development, business due diligence, post-acquisition support, digital transformation, market entry strategy, commercial excellence, customer value management, pricing, product innovation.
In the M&A sector he partners with the most prominent private equity houses and financial investors helping them to make the right investment decisions and enhance value creation.
Prior to goetzpartners, he worked in EY as Head of Commercial Advisory Services and in L.E.K. Consulting as Partner and Managing Director of the Italian office.

Massimiliano Caraffa is a Private Equity professional with 17 years’ work experience in Private Equity and Management Consulting matured in top-tier global companies.
Mr Caraffa is a Director of Carlyle European Buyout team based in Milan, and is responsible for deal origination, execution, portfolio management and realizations in the Consumer & Retail sector across Europe.
Mr Caraffa is actively involved in Carlyle’s current investments in Design Holding (Furniture/Design); Golden Goose (Fashion/ retail); Hunkemoller (Fashion/Retail); Twinset Milano (Fashion/Retail); Comdata (Business Services), Irca (Industrial food) and Marelli Motori (Industrial), in each of those he is also a member of the Board of Directors. Moreover, Mr. Caraffa e has been involved in Moncler (Fashion/Retail) and Sematic (Industrial) where he served on the Board of Directors respectively from 2008 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2016 and participated in the portfolio management and exit of Avio spa (Aerospace and Defense).
Prior to joining Carlyle in 2004, Mr. Caraffa was a Business Analyst and Associate with McKinsey & Company in Milan for three years where he focused on telecom and financial services.
Mr. Caraffa received a MSc in Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering magna cum laude from the University of Genoa and received an M.B.A. from INSEAD. He speaks Italian, English and Spanish.

Graduated in Economics at the University of Bari, in 2003 he earns a Master degree in Corporate Finance from the Bocconi University in Milan.
In 2004 he joins Telecom Italia, filling the role of Head of Debt Capital Markets and Liability Management and, from 2009, of Head of Group Treasury and Capital Markets.
In 2011 he joins Pirelli Group as Finance Operations and Risk Controlling Manager. The following year he takes on the responsibility of insurance risk management and loss prevention activities; in 2013 he becomes Finance Manager, role he performs in London offices from 2016 to 2019.
From November 2019 he is also responsible for Enterprise Risk Management and in December 2021 he is nominated Head of Finance, M&A and Risk Management.
He is CEO of Pirelli International Treasury S.p.A.
From May 2017 to March 2022 he is a director of Focus Investments S.p.A., company specialised in the real estate industry and, from January 2022 he is a member of the board of Eurostazioni S.p.A.

Francesco is a Senior Advisor to Pemberton and focuses on Italy and Spain. He is also a member of the Credit Review Committee of Pemberton Capital Advisors LLP.
Francesco has over 25 years’ experience in corporate and credit markets. He founded an independent advisory firm in 2011 and has advised on a broad range of corporate finance transactions in the Italian and cross border markets over the last few years. Previously he worked at RBS from 2002 and 2010, where he was Managing Director, Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking and member of the Italian Executive Committee.
He started his career at JPMorgan Chase where he worked for 5 years across various coverage and product roles within Investment Banking.
Francesco graduated from Sapienza University of Rome with a Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration.

Francesco Guatelli is Head of TMT M&A Advisory at Intesa Sanpaolo IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division.
Within the M&A desk, Francesco is responsible for originating and executing M&A transactions in the TMT sector involving Italian and foreign large-cap clients of the bank.
Francesco joined Intesa Sanpaolo in 2016, having previously worked for Robert W. Baird in London (European Investment Banking team) and for RBS in Milan (M&A Italy team).
He earned an MsC summa cum laude in Accounting and Corporate Finance from the Bocconi University in 2010, having previously obtained an BsC in Business Administration from the same university.

In Clessidra Capital Credit SGR dal 2022 di cui è Managing Director.
Proviene da Mediobanca, dove ha lavorato per 15 anni all’interno del team di Lending & Structured Finance, ricoprendo ruoli di crescente seniority e, da ultimo, come Executive Director con responsabilità del team che si occupa di strutturazione, execution e gestione del loan book in operazioni di leveraged financing. In precedenza, ha lavorato a Parigi presso Access Capital Partners.

Carlo has more than 30 years of experience in the Alternative Investments industry both in Italy and throughout Europe. His main experiences include:
Fondo Italiano d’Investimento SGR SPA (FII) – CEO (2016 - 2019)
FII is the largest Italian entity devoted to Private Capital management. During Carlo’s tenure, it managed 8 different closed end funds, for both direct and indirect (Fund of Funds) investments, across the three main asset classes, Private Equity, Venture Capital and Private Debt.
Italy 1 Investment S.A. - Sponsor, Project Leader and CEO (2010 – 2012)
Italy1 was the first SPAC ever listed on the Italian Stock Exchange.
Argan Capital LLP - Co-Founding and Managing Partner (2006 – 2016)
Argan, headquartered in London, was an independent PE pan-European Fund, focused on mid-caps and created by spinning out the European Principal Investing activity of Bank of America.
Bank of America Capital Partners Europe (BACPE) - Managing Director and Senior Partner (2000 – 2006)
BACPE was a pan-European Fund headquartered in London.
PAI (Paribas Affaires Industrielles) - Managing Director and Senior Partner (1998 – 2000)
PAI, headquartered in Paris, was the Principal Investing arm of Banque Paribas.
Sopaf SPA - Managing Director and Partner (1990 – 1997)
Sopaf was a leading Italian merchant bank, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.
Before starting his career in Private Capital, Carlo held several different management positions in the Olivetti Group (1984 - 1990)
Carlo has more than 30 years of academic experience and more specifically: since 1987 Professor of Economics and Management at Bocconi University, Milan. Specialized in Innovation and Technology Management.
Graduated, summa cum laude, in Mechanical Engineering at Polytechnic of Turin, Italy.
MBA, summa cum laude, at SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan – Italy.

In 1994, Filippo graduated in Law, With Honours from University of Bologna.
Since 2002, Filippo assisted clients in more than 70 transactions for a value exceeding 137 billion Euro.
Filippo works on private and public M&A transactions, both inbound and outbound the Italian market, side-by-side with leading Italian and international industrial groups, financial institutions and private equity funds, as well as key Italian institutions.
He advises Italian and international players involved in extraordinary transactions, group reorganisations and governance issues and with a focus on assistances involving regulated entities and sectors, foreign screening investments regulations and activist players.

Giulio Napolitano, Chiomenti Partner, advises Italian and international clients on Italian and European administrative law. His practice focuses on laws regulating state invested companies, privatisation transactions, golden power regulation, tender procedures for the award of contracts and concessions of public services, regulatory matters in the communication and energy sectors, renewable energy incentives, financial market supervision, competition and consumer protection and sports law.
He is one of the twenty members of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (for the period 2018-2022), which is the governing body for international sports arbitration. He is member of the Committee of Experts and Market Operators of the Italian Financial Supervision Authority, Consob (2019-2021). He was a legal advisor to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers from 2006 to 2008 and Chairman of the Supervisory Board on equal access to the Telecom Italia network from 2009 to 2012.
https://www.chiomenti.net/en/professionals/giulio-napolitano

Head of M&A Department of the Firm, Massimiliano represents clients in matters of private and public M&A with a focus on private equity, strategic investments and joint ventures. His experience M&A experience spans various industries, including the real estate and hospitality, insurance, mechanical and food & beverage sectors. He is also often involved as advisor with respect to complex multi-jurisdiction litigation cases. He joined the Firm in 1998 and became a Partner in 2010. He was a Foreign Associate with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP in New York and previously a visiting foreign lawyer with Gide Loyrette Nouel, Association d'Avocats in Paris.

Marco is a director at WTW heading up the Financial Institutions and Financial and Professional Services HUB. He was previously Head of FINEX, placing and managing executive risks programs for international clients both in commercial and financial arenas.
Marco has then joined Global Solutions Group working closely with international Private Equity Firms and is now responsible for Financial Institutions’ client base as well as Financial & Professional Service, including M&A and Private Equity

Ferruccio is a Partner of the Energy & Utilities Strategy and M&A Transformation team in PwC Italy.
He started his career in PwC in 2006. Ferruccio graduated in Business Management at the "Parthenope" University of Naples and earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration at the SDA Bocconi University.
He gained a significant experience in the Energy & Utility sector, taking part in and leading several projects in the gas, electricity and multi-utility business.
Main projects: (i) M&A advisor, strategy and execution (both sell-side and buy-side) (ii) Company valuation operating in energy retail and distribution gas sector; (iii) Strategic market positioning & planning; (iv) Business plan modelling and BP reviewing for listed multiutilities and Italian gas and power integrated players; (v) Business and competitive intelligence; (vi) Commercial due diligence; (vii) Negotiation of partnership/business combination
Ferruccio managed an important number of projects in the chain of gas/electricity, renewable energy, waste management, water service, energy efficiency and district heating sectors.

Arianna Scocchera, Head of Italy.
Arianna joined HWF in November 2018 and was appointed Head of Italy in May 2021. Recognised by investors and advisers as a leader in the Italian insurance and M&A market, Arianna has successfully grown HWF’s Italian portfolio, working on inbound, outbound and domestic deals in the tech, infrastructure, real estate and operational sectors. Prior to HWF, Arianna worked as a legal consultant through Eversheds Sutherland and in the legal offices of the United Nations.

One of the founding partners of Mandarin Capital Partners, an Italian private equity firm that began operating at the end of 2007, Lorenzo Stanca boasts about 30 years of experience in high profile financial institutions.
He was previously Head of Operational Strategies at Sanpaolo Imi Group (now Intesa Sanpaolo). Prior to this, and up to May 2005, he spent many years at Unicredit Group, where he has been Head of Economic Research and subsequently Head of Fixed Income and Forex Markets at Unicredit Banca Mobiliare, the investment banking arm of UniCredit Group of which he was one of the founders.
Lorenzo Stanca is author of various papers and co-author of books on various subjects in the field of economics and finance. He has been from 2001 to 2004 and from 2006 to 2010 chairman of the Italian Business Economists Association. He is a member of Scientific Committee of Osservatorio Asia, an Italian Think Tank on Asian affairs.
He holds a degree in Economics from Bocconi University, where is has also lectured in various courses over the years.
Marianna, a Cambridge trained economist, is a co-founder and CEO of the corporate intelligence firm, 36Brains.
After several years conducting research and working in tech transfer, Marianna joined the US corporate investigations firm Kroll, where she rose to become Head of Southern Europe.
She left in 2020 to found 36Brains. Grasping the transformative value that big data will have on the corporate intelligence sector, Marianna has set up a budding European champion in the industry, with offices in Milan and Berlin.
A recognized expert in her field, Marianna regularly teaches courses at various universities and holds seminars in Italy and abroad, mainly England and the United States.
Marianna is a member of the Advisory Board of Transparency International Italy, a member of the Executive Committee of the Adam Smith Society and, a director of the ACFE Italy Chapter.
Philip is chief strategy & marketing officer at Sterling Technology, a premium provider of virtual data room solutions for M&A, capital markets, and real estate. He has more than 30 years' experience working in strategy, M&A, corporate development, and corporate finance leadership roles in management consulting, investment banking, public companies, and private equity backed firms. Philip is a non-executive adviser to startups, investment management and private equity firms. He has served as an honorary visiting fellow in finance, and as a member of the advisory board of the M&A Research Centre, at Cass Business School. He is a co-author of over a dozen published M&A research studies and papers, as well as a co-inventor and patent holder for computerised, networked secure collaboration technology. Philip graduated from the University of London with Masters degrees in computer science and finance.

Matteo Zenari is Head of Financial Sponsor Group within the Intesa Sanpaolo IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division. In his leading role he is in charge globally of the coverage activity of the Investment Banking products and services, such as Structure Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Debt & Equity Capital Market and Fund Financing, with Italian and International Private Equity firms. He joined Intesa Sanpaolo Group in the Financial Sponsor Group in 2017, after having headed the Mergers & Acquisitions and Co-Headed the Corporate Finance desks at Société Générale CIB in Italy. Matteo graduated at Luigi Bocconi University with an economic and finance degree.