Francesco Aldorisio Partner Unigestion

Francesco Aldorisio, Partner – Private Equity, is responsible for direct investments in Europe. He is also responsible for due diligence and execution of fund investments in Italy and sourcing of secondary fund investments in Europe. Francesco is a member of the advisory board of several private equity funds and sits on the board of various companies across Europe. He joined Unigestion in 2017 with the integration of Akina into Unigestion’s private equity unit.

Francesco holds a Master’s Degree cum laude in Economics, Statistics and Social Sciences with a major in industrial economy and corporate finance from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.

Matteo Zenari Head of Financial Sponsor Group INTESA SANPAOLO, IMI CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANKING DIVISION

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.

Francesco Casiraghi Managing Director Advent International

Francesco Casiraghi joined Advent in 2007. In addition to managing Advent's coverage of the Italian market, he is a member of the Industrial team. Prior to Advent, Francesco was at Merrill Lynch, where he worked for five years on the investment banking team in their London, Hong Kong, Rome and Milan offices. While at Merrill Lynch, Francesco worked on a number of high profile transactions across several industries and products. Prior to Merrill Lynch, he worked at Procter & Gamble as a process engineer.

Francesco holds an MA in Industrial Engineering from Parma University.

Francesco has worked on Advent's investments in Circet, Laird Limited and Nexi. Directorships - Current: Laird Limited and Nexi

Andrea Giardino Equity Partner Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici

Andrea Giardino has been involved in many of the Firm’s most significant extraordinary corporate finance transactions. He specializes in M&A, particularly with regard to acquisitions and disposals of shareholdings and businesses, leveraged buy-outs, private equity transactions, joint ventures, takeover bids and exchange offers. He also advises on real estate transactions.

He is the author of numerous publications on corporate law, with particular focus on group regulation and company direction and coordination. Andrea Giardino graduated with honours from the Università degli Studi di Pisa in 1994 and was admitted to the Italian Bar in 1997.

Prior to joining the Firm, he worked at some of the leading Italian law firms.

Valentina Franceschini Senior Partner Wise Equity Sgr

Valentina Franceschini is a Senior Partner at Wise Equity in Milan. She joined the management company in 2000 and during the past 20 years has managed several investments in Italian SMEs in different industries.

Valentina currently serves on the board of Aleph (digital printing), Corob (tinting systems), Imprima (textile printing and finishing), Tapì (T-cap closures for food and beverage), Vittoria (bicycle tires), Waycap (fashion accessories).

Prior to joining Wise Equity, Valentina was an Equity Research Analyst at Credit Suisse focusing on the Media sector.

Valentina obtained a degree in Business Administration at Luigi Bocconi University.

Alessandro Azzolini Partner, Debt Advisory Leader PwC Italy

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.