Stirling Square Capital Partners acquires a majority interest in Italy’s Viscolube

Stirling Square Capital Partners the leading pan-European private equity firm has acquired a majority interest in Viscolube S.p.A., the Italian leader and a major European player in the used oil recycling sector.

The acquisition marks the first investment for the recently created Special Opportunities team at Stirling Square Capital Partners.  The team is led by Manilo Marocco.

The Special Opportunities team shares the same pan-European outlook as the First and Second Fund team at Stirling Square but focuses on transactions which by size, type or governance are considered as Special Opportunities. 

Established at Pieve Fissiraga in 1963, Viscolube has grown as demand for the regeneration of used motor oil has increased.  In 2001 the company acquired the Ceccano regeneration plant from ENI and through best in class operations and significant capital investment has grown both its refining plants to become the largest used motor oil regenerator in Italy.  The company transforms collected used motor oil originating from both automotive and industrial uses into regenerated base oil whose properties, thanks to Viscolube’s state of the art technology, are of equivalent quality to virgin base oil.

Stirling Square plans to grow Viscolube through further capital investment in its plants, most immediately with the development of a pre-treatment facility in Pieve Fissiraga and the enhancement of the hydrogen and hydro-treating units in Ceccano.  Also the growth of the company through geographic expansion outside Italy is planned as more and more countries introduce environmental legislation that promotes the regeneration of used oil.

Manilo Marocco, of Stirling Square Special Opportunities, commented: "Viscolube operates two world-class plants utilising innovative technology to regenerate a toxic waste product into usable oil. We see good opportunity for domestic growth of the business as well as the opportunity for international expansion as more countries seek to access this technology to provide an environmentally sustainable solution for the treatment of waste oil.  We are delighted to have completed the acquisition and look forward to working as partners with Mr Carriero and supporting the existing management team, led by CEO Mr Antonio Lazzarinetti.”

Mr Carriero, President of Viscolube, said: "Today marks a significant next step in the development of Viscolube and I am pleased to be partnering with Stirling Square to support the management and staff of the company in its future development.  We see a number of exciting developments ahead for the company, both in Italy and abroad, and we have chosen a respected institutional partner to work with."

Stirling Square Capital was advised by ENVIRON the environmental due diligence aspect of the transaction. Established in 1982 ENVIRON helps businesses worldwide manage the most demanding health and environmental challenges. In Italy ENVIRON has two offices (Rome and Milan) and grew a consolidated image of trustworthy and reliability providing consultancy services to a wide variety of national and international clients.

The ENVIRON Italy team was led by Andrea Campioni (Principal) and Roberto Salvati (Manager) senior practioners in M&A based in the Rome office.