Cognetas in Italy

The firm is also opening an office in Milan headed by Maurizio Bianco, formerly of Euromobiliare Private Equity. He will be joined by two others in due course. Cognetas thinks the Italian market is set for significant growth in the €100m to €500 deal range, a gap that exists at the moment due to the concentration of local firms on sub-€100m deals and the focus of the large pan-European funds on very large deals. It also believes many family-owned businesses will turn to professional management to be able to compete internationally.