In brief:
- Excellera Advisory Group, Italy’s leading corporate affairs advisory group, is entering a new phase of expansion – with ICG succeeding Xenon as its financial partner, via a transaction set to close in autumn 2025
- The Group’s management team selected ICG as Excellera’s new partner and will reinvest the majority of their stake
- This is a major milestone for Excellera, validating its strategic vision and standing as a corporate affairs champion in EMEA
- For the ICG team, this is a model transaction, utilising our global platform and local presence to provide partnership capital to a privately-owned European company, with a view to supporting its long-term growth objectives via a clear value enhancement strategy
Excellera is the first of its kind: a pioneering platform for the aggregation of leading advisory firms in Italy. With ICG’s support, the Group will reinforce its domestic position and accelerate its international expansion, pursuing a business model in which each of its constituent firms will retain distinct brand identities and operational autonomy, while becoming increasingly interconnected and globally integrated.
The partnership will drive innovation and support the development of a data-driven approach, following the integration of INTWIG into the Group and the subsequent launch of Excellera Intelligence.
We are delighted to form this new partnership with Excellera, a truly differentiated leader within the European corporate affairs space, having built an incredibly attractive proposition in a relatively short period of time. We see huge opportunities for growth and look forward to working with the talented management team as we focus on expanding into new markets and geographies to further consolidate the Group’s position as a leader within EMEA.
Francesco Canessa, Associate Director, ICG European Mid-Market
Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in the Excellera journey, a project we launched almost three years ago with the support of Xenon Private Equity. I am grateful for their trust, their vision, and all the work we’ve done together to build the strong foundations underpinning our growth. We are thrilled to welcome ICG as our new partner for the next stage of our journey. Their commitment to our ambition and their ability to inject new energy in our expansion path – including international acquisitions throughout the EMEA region – will be instrumental in shaping our future.
Paolo Zanetto, CEO of Excellera Advisory Group
We have chosen ICG as our new partner for this growth journey that will see Excellera transition from a national champion to an international leader in corporate affairs. On behalf of our team, the operating partners, a special thanks to our friends at Xenon who, in 2022, envisioned the possibility of creating a consultancy group in Italy capable of challenging the international giants.
Auro Palomba, Chairman of the Strategic Committee
About Excellera
Established in 2022, Excellera comprises seven best-in-class firms in strategic communications and public affairs: Barabino & Partners; Cattaneo Zanetto Pomposo & Co.; Community; Excellera Intelligence; Public Affairs Advisors; Value Relations; and IP Excellera. As a collective, the Group connects key international markets and thought leaders, shaping political, regulatory, financial, and reputational priorities for the benefit of clients. Today, it has more than 350 employees and collaborators and a widespread presence across international markets, with 15 offices located in Abu Dhabi, Bergamo, Berlin, Brussels, Dubai, Genoa, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, Riyadh, Rome and Treviso.
Go deeper:
- The European Mid-Market team provides flexible, tailored solutions supporting family owners, founders and management teams in realising their objectives for long-term, sustainable value creation
- Our flagship European Corporate team targets locally sourced, directly originated and privately negotiated investments in corporate, sponsored leveraged buyout and opportunistic transactions
- Our investment DNA has a track record of creating value by partnering with ambitious businesses
- Press release: ICG announces €3.0bn final close for Mid-Market Fund II
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