(Finance) – OneDayGroupthe Milanese group which owns successful companies such as ScuolaZoo and WeRoad, has concluded an extraordinary operation for the sale of 40% of the shares of the co-founding partner Francesco Nazari Fusettiwith part of the stake that was purchased by the current managers of the group (the so-called C-level). “Our vision is to build an increasingly larger group and we think it is essential to also bring all the managers who deal with business units or entire companies up to the entrepreneur level, to have a further commitment that is not linked only to salary or bonus”, he explains to Finance CFO Alberto Pomawhich oversaw the operation and is also equity partner of OneDay Group.
“OneDay’s shareholder structure remained practically unchanged from the establishment of the first company, in 2007, until 2019, and was made up of the two founders Paolo De Nadai and Francesco Nazari Fusettiwith a small participation of Betty Pagninwho is the person who started the travel business and arrived a little later than the foundation, when there was only ScuolaZoo in the group”, says Poma.
The reorganization had been on the radar for some time, but the pandemic complicated things, explains the manager: “We started in 2019, agreeing to reduce the share of Francesco Fusetti, who had stopped working in the company for a few years because he was involved in other entrepreneurial projects, but the pandemic has forced us to pause, because all the group’s financial resources were used to overcome this difficult phase. We resumed negotiations at the beginning of 2023, in a different and more economically stable context for everyone, and we have now successfully concluded the operation.”
To carry out the operation a ad hoc financial vehicle thanks to the support of Banco Azzoaglio, a private and independent Italian bank, which supported the purchase of 40% of the capital by the equity partners of OneDay Group. “We set up the vehicle, they financed us and we purchased the last part of Francesco’s shares, then the vehicle was incorporated into OneDay through a reverse merger and at that point the shares were redistributed to the managers according to the agreements we had taken,” says the CFO.
L’post-transaction shareholding is made up of Paolo De Nadai – who in addition to being the founder is also the president of the group – with around 74%, Mattia Riva – the managing director – with around 15%, Francesco Fusetti who remained at 2, 5%, and by front line managers who have a total of around 9%. The equity partners are now 20with an average age of 38 years.
Poma does not exclude that the corporate structure may change in the future to encourage business growth, but he does not see such operations in the short term: “Today we have arrived at the corporate-organizational structure that we wanted to achieve in this phase of the our plan. For many years we have been constantly talking with funds, investment banks and traditional banks – subjects who are interested in us and with whom we are interested in sharing our plans – also because we know that sooner or later there may be a desire to have our future plans financed by institutional investors”.
“However, it is not on the agenda at the moment and after this corporate operation, which follows WeRoad’s fundraising, we are all focused on business – he adds – WeRoad will continue internationalization, our mature businesses such as those that make up the communication platform will continue their path of significant growth and ScuolaZoo will aim to consolidate the sectors in which it is present”.
In other words, OneDay Group is now focused on organic growth, after closing thefinancial year 2023 (ended September 30, 2023) with a turnover of 75 million euros. The group is made up of ScuolaZoo (GenZ’s favorite media brand), WeRoad (the largest community of road travelers in Europe aged from 25 to 45), belive (a company that organizes trips and experiences for children aged 18 and over). at 25 years old), ZooCom (creative media agency of the group with focus on Generation Z and Millennials), Together (integrated communication agency), Glint (eCommerce Business Partner), Mambo (community of content creators in Italy which brings together people between 15 and 40 years old), Artena (agency specializing in marketing activation and event organisation).
“In 2024 we should close with 120 million euros in revenues and the growth is naturally driven by WeRoad, which is continuing the scale-up process, but the communication platform part will also grow, which will go from 15 to 20 million euros in revenues, while ScuolaZoo will have lower growth and will close at around 10 million euros in revenues – states Poma – The remaining part of the revenues will be generated by new projects that are in the startup phase within the holding, such as the Wow project which is linked to coworking and coliving”.
Just as it rejects the advances of funds and banks, OneDay is for now keeping its distance from the Bag. “We don’t think about it in the short term. However, both I and Elena Giombelli, the CFO of WeRoad, were selected this year for the TechShare program Euronext to understand how the whole IPO process works – says the manager – Listing is a tool that we knew little about and now we know better, but we currently don’t see it as a solution to finance our plans in the short term”.
However, OneDay is implementing plans such as that of equity partners which are closer to the idea of a listed company than a simple LLC. “Every year we allow equity partners, i.e. C-level managers who have had the opportunity to enter the shareholding structure, Of be able to buy or sell their sharesso as to create a virtuous circle that makes the asset in which they invest liquid, despite not being listed”, says the CFO.