H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), an international investment fund with $67 billion in capital under management, announced the completion of the acquisition of a controlling interest in Protos. H.I.G.’s investment is made in partnership with the Company’s current management.

Raffaele Legnani and Giovanni Guglielmi, managing directors of H.I.G. in Italy, commented, “Protos represents a benchmark in the fast-growing technical consulting market, driven by secular trends such as energy transition, infrastructure renewal and an increasingly stringent regulatory environment. The Company can count on clear competitive positioning, recognized technical know-how and an attractive business model, and we are ready to support it to seize the many opportunities for growth, both organic and inorganic, in Italy and abroad, that the market offers.”.

Franco Masera and Luca Mazzoni of Protos, added: “We are excited to enter into a partnership with an international fund like H.I.G. with the aim of further accelerating our growth path and consolidating our position as a leading Italian player in the technical consulting sector. We felt that H.I.G. was the ideal partner to support the management team in the next stages of the Company’s development, particularly in supporting growth through targeted acquisitions.”

“It begins a new virtuous path in our history, toward a constant expansion of the product portfolio to the Clientele”- added Francesco Medri and Pasquale Serlenga who, together with Lorenzo Brogini, Giulio Marconi and all team leaders, are enthusiastically helping to lay the foundation for new goals with H.I.G.

H.I.G. was assisted in the transaction by Kitra Advisory as M&A advisor, Fineurop Soditic as debt advisor, and Pavia & Ansaldo, Boston Consulting Group, New Deal Advisory/SPM Consulting, Advant NCTM and Spada Partners for legal, commercial, financial/payroll, tax and structuring aspects, respectively. Protos was assisted by Legance for legal aspects, Studio Verucci& Partners and F4, Finance for Tomorrow for Financial Due Diligence. The lawyers involved in financing the transaction are Advant NCTM on the borrower side and Orrick and Chiomenti on the lender side.