Ardian Buys Majority Stake in Masco Group

Ardian, a private investment house, has purchased a majority stake in Masco Group, a provider of engineered solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.¹ The company acquired the stake from RSBG SE, which is the holding subsidiary of RAG-Stiftung. The Borella family and Masco Group’s management team—along with Ardian, while Luca Borella will remain CEO. Also signing on as investors are Angelos Papadimitriou and Claudio Colombi, who will also join the board of directors as Chairman and Director respectively.

Masco offers customized products and services to the biopharma and life sciences sector, including bioprocessing equipment, high-purity water systems, modular off-site fabricated facility solutions, process engineering, automation, laboratory, and validation services. The company currently houses seven plants spanning Asia, Europe, and North America.

As for Ardian, it is expected to provide industry insight within pharma and the life sciences space as a whole in order to help Masco take its company development to the next level via driving a number of initiatives, acquisitions, and international expansion, that revolve around reinforcing its technological abilities.

"We are extremely happy to partner up with Luca Borella and his family to lead the next phase of growth of Masco. Together with RSBG, Luca and the management [team] have created a global player in advanced engineering solutions for the life sciences industry,” commented Marco Bellino, deputy head of Buyout Italy & managing director, Ardian. “We are convinced that Masco is ideally poised to benefit from long-term tailwinds in the biotech industry, due to its deep engineering and process knowledge. We look forward to accelerating the company’s international development organically and through an ambitious M&A strategy. This transaction is testament to Ardian’s expertise in investing in the most attractive niches within healthcare and partnering with leading entrepreneurial families.”

"I want to extend my sincere thanks to RSBG for their partnership since 2017, which has been invaluable,” said Luca Borella, CEO of Masco Group. “My gratitude also goes to the Masco Group management team, along with our dedicated colleagues, whose relentless efforts and outstanding achievements have laid a solid foundation for our ongoing and future success. I am particularly proud to mention my father, Alberto Borella, for his dedication and contribution to this journey and his decision to reinvesting and partnering with Ardian, ensuring continued success and stability of our business. Looking ahead, I am thrilled about the strategic growth plan we have outlined with Ardian.”

RSBG SE—who sold its stake to Ardian—was grateful for the partnership between the parties.

“Since we partnered with Luca Borella and his family in 2017, we have jointly pursued an accelerated buy-and-build strategy with Masco Group. With four landmark acquisitions in five years, we have successfully inorganically enriched the offerings portfolio and geographic presence of Masco Group,” noted Dr. Jan Gudlick, Chief Operating Officer, RSBG SE. We are extremely proud that together with the management team we were able to expand Masco’s range of advanced machinery solutions also in the field of modular prefabricated facilities for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. We are confident that Ardian is an excellent new home for Masco and the ideal partner for further growth over the next years.”

Reference

1. Ardian acquires majority stake in Masco Group, a leading solution provider to the biopharma and life sciences industry. Ardian. July 22, 2024. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://www.ardian.com/news-insights/press-releases/ardian-acquires-majority-stake-masco-group-leading-solution-provider