Houlihan Lokey Advises Pizzeria Carlos

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that the shareholders of Pizzerias di Carlo, S.L., together with all its affiliates (Pizzeria Carlos), have sold a majority stake of the group to the fund Taste of Italy 2, managed by DeA Capital Alternative Funds SGR S.p.A. (DeA Capital). Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive sellside M&A advisor. The transaction closed on 6 May 2022.

Founded in 2009, Pizzeria Carlos is a Spanish restaurant chain that opened its first site in the town of Alcobendas in Madrid with the aim of recovering the essence of its flagship product, the pizza. Now, Pizzeria Carlos manages 73 sites throughout Spain with more than 1,800 employees and intends to reach more than 135 sites by 2024.

Taste of Italy 2 is a private equity fund with €330 million of subscribed capital, managed by DeA Capital. The fund invests in leading companies in Italy and the Iberian Peninsula in the food and beverage sector, and in the supply chain that serves it. Established in 2006, DeA Capital is 100% owned by DeA Capital, S.p.A., a De Agostini Group company. It is the leading independent alternative asset manager in Italy, with more than €5.7 billion of assets under management.

The transaction highlights Houlihan Lokey’s ability to establish trustable relationships with key players in the Spanish restaurant business over the years while reinforcing its credentials in this industry. After a long period of a strong, established relationship between both parties, the shareholders of Pizzeria Carlos approached Houlihan Lokey and asked them for advice and support in the closing of the transaction with DeA Capital.