Houlihan Lokey Advises Altair

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Altair Funeral S.r.l. (Altair Funeral), a wholly owned subsidiary of Altair, has been acquired by Funecap Groupe. This partnership creates the first pan-European group in the funeral services and infrastructure space. The transaction closed on 14 April 2022.

Headquartered in Bologna (Emilia-Romagna) and owned by Paolo Zanghieri, Altair is a leading player in the Italian PPP industry with a strong focus on the cemeteries and crematoria businesses, which are run by its subsidiary Altair Funeral. The company has a leadership position in Italy in the management of cemeteries and crematoria, operating more than 35 sites, mainly located in Northern Italy.

Alongside the core business, Altair is also active in other businesses, such as engineering and construction, project financing and ITC consulting services, energy management services and trading, TICC services, and waste management, mainly to support the management of cemeteries and crematoria.

Funecap Groupe was founded in 2010 by Xavier Thoumieux and Thierry Gisserot and today is present in France and Belgium with over 50 crematoria, 300 funeral homes, 700 funeral agencies, and a leadership position in the funeral insurance space.

This partnership creates the first pan-European group in the funeral services and infrastructure space, led by the three entrepreneurs with the support of Charterhouse Capital Partners and Latour Capital. The group has a combined turnover of €450 million, serving more than 300,00 families every year.

Houlihan Lokey acted as sole financial advisor to Altair throughout the sale process, from the preparation of the initial marketing material for the company and the initial contacts with potential buyers to the final negotiation with the counterparty.