Through the search fund Cassandra Investments, Arada has acquired a Milan-based glass recycling business with €10.5m in sales and a 20% EBITDA margin. It is the seventh investment of Arada CP I and the second in Italy.
Arada Capital Partners, through the search fund Cassandra Investments, has completed the acquisition of New Roglass, an Italian firm based in Milan and a benchmark in glass recycling. The company manages waste to transform it into high-quality secondary raw materials, including furnace-ready cullet — clean, crushed, impurity-free glass — pretreated glass, and metals recovered during the process.
The company was acquired through Cassandra Investments, a search fund led by Emanuele Charalambis and Riccardo Donadel, with the support of a group of private and institutional investors.
The business
New Roglass operates in a rapidly expanding market, driven by the cost savings that recycled glass provides to clients in bottling, automotive and construction — it reduces both energy consumption and raw material costs — by the growing commitment to the circular economy, and by regulatory momentum from European directives. In the last twelve months the company recorded sales of approximately €10.5m and EBITDA of around €2m, a 20% margin.
The company runs three plants with authorised capacity to process up to 128,000 tonnes annually, placing it among the seven largest glass recyclers in Italy and one of the most important in the north of the country, where demand for cullet far exceeds available supply. It is also the only operator with independent pretreatment and treatment plants.
Why it fits
This transaction represents the seventh investment by Arada CP I and the second in Italy, consolidating a strategy of identifying European companies that lead their niche, with high growth potential, strong competitive advantages and unresolved succession challenges.
New Roglass operates in a strategic sector, with solid entry barriers and structurally growing, recurring demand. Together with the new management team we are confident we will drive the company into a new phase of growth, professionalisation and consolidation.
With this acquisition Arada continues deploying the capital of its first vehicle, Arada CP I, which has a diversified portfolio across Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. The firm expects to complete its investment period with around ten portfolio companies before launching its second vehicle, Arada CP II — backed by a positioning that generates deal flow and knowledge of the European lower mid-market built on the analysis of close to 200 potential SME acquisitions and more than 400 search funds in recent years.
About Cassandra Investments
Emanuele Charalambis brings experience in strategic consulting and investment banking at Delta Partners, Value Partners and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, having led transformation, M&A and growth projects across technology, infrastructure and renewable energy. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Modena and an MBA from IESE and Kellogg.
Riccardo Donadel has built his career in private equity and investment banking in Italy, with more than fifteen executed mid-market transactions at firms including Koinos Capital, Scouting Capital Advisors and B. Group, linked to the Coesia industrial group. He holds a degree in Finance from the University of Bologna and an MBA from IESE.
Both operate as co-CEOs of New Roglass.