Home FMCG ORESA has green light to take over home and office water solutions provider La Fantana

ORESA has green light to take over home and office water solutions provider La Fantana

ORESA has green light to take over home and office water solutions provider La Fantana

The Competition Council in Romania approved the transaction between Oresa Ventures (Cyprus) Limited and La Fântâna SA and LaF Group.

In June 2016, the family-owned investment firm ORESA announced the completion of the acquisition process of home and office water solutions provider La Fantana, together with Cristian Amza, the company’s founder.  They had previously signed the agreement for the acquisition of all shares held by the funds managed by Innova Capital in La Fantana Group. Following this transaction, ORESA owns 83% of the company equity and Cristian Amza 17%.

“We are pleased to announce completion of La Fantana acquisition. ORESA and founder Cristian Amza provided equity capital and brought in two strong local banks with bank acquisition finance. At the same time, we have refinanced the existing debt in the company. We are very proud to be able to execute such MBO/LBO transaction in Romania in a relatively short time. We are also confident that will be able to support the CEO Cristian Amza and his team to build the business further” said Cornel Marian Managing Director ORESA.

The transaction was partly financed with leverage debt provided by ING Bank Raiffeisen Bank S.A. as Lead Arrangers and Raiffeisen Bank as Facility Agent.

“This acquisition marks an exciting milestone for us as we solidify our leadership position in the water and coffee service solutions for home and offices. Such an investment of a PE fund in a leading company is usually followed by a dynamic growth period, and this is totally aligned with our ambitions of becoming an important regional player in Central and Eastern Europe. Our future development will be based on organic growth generated by our two main pillars water and coffee, but in the same time we will look for acquisition opportunities in CEE” declared Cristian Amza, CEO and founder La Fantana Group.

La Fantana is a leading provider of home and office water solutions in South-Eastern Europe (SEE) and the second largest provider of water solutions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The Group is a market leader in Romania and Serbia in bottled water cooler solutions as well as Point of Use water filters. The company estimates that following the acquisition of Blue Coffee Services in 2014, it has also become a leading player in coffee services for companies and offices.
In 2015, La Fantana Group posted consolidated revenues of over EUR 42 million and a profit before tax of 5.033 mil. EUR from services provided to more than 50 thousand customers. The Group led by Cristian Amza has effectively shaped the Romanian and Serbian water solution markets and currently operates an integrated business with a nationwide coverage in both Romania and Serbia, spanning the entire chain from water source to water production/bottling facilities and further to the Group’s own water and coffee distribution, as well as logistics for delivery to customer premises.