Complementary backgrounds for an interchangeable and effective response to investee companies needs
Founding Partner and Managing Director
He joined the team in 1993 and is engaged on the fund general management, investment analysis and portfolio companies supervision. He holds an MBA (1993) from SDA Bocconi, Milan and a degree in Business Administration (1988) from the same university. Prior to joining he was part of the corporate finance department of the Ferruzzi Group. Mr Mangano is the Chairman & Co-Ceo.
Founding Partner and Managing Director
He joined in 2000. He is mainly devoted to investment analysis and portfolio company management. He holds an MBA (2000) from SDA (Bocconi University), Milan and a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Genoa (1991). Prior to joining the team he was a plant manager within the Shell Group and before a project engineer in the Ansaldo Group. Mr Prestigiacomo is the Co-Ceo.
Founding Partner
Mr Calabrò joined in January 2008 and is in charge of investment execution and the management of portfolio companies. Mr Calabrò holds an MBA from INSEAD (2002) and a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Genoa (1994).
Mr Calabrò started his career as a product manager at ABB Corporate Research (Milan) before moving to Alstom Power. In 2003 he moved to Tenova S.p.A (part of the Techint Group) where he was a Business Development Director responsible for leading the Strategy and M&A department.
Partner
Mr de Micco joined in January 2012 and is in charge for investment execution and the management of portfolio companies. Mr de Micco holds an MBA from Durham University Business School (2006) and a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Naples (2001).
Mr de Micco started his career at Procter & Gamble as a Chemical Process Engineer before moving to The Boston Consulting Group as a consultant specializing in the Consumer and Energy sectors. In 2006 he moved to ERG Petroli, active in refinery and distribution of petroleum products and in power generation, as an Investment Manager responsible for corporate development. Following this he joined Prysmian Group, a worldwide leader in energy and telecom cable manufacturing, where he was part of the Corporate Development team and gained experience in post-merger integration in several cross border investments.
Partner
Mr Piras joined in July 2018 and is charge of the management of portfolio companies. Mr Piras holds a BBA from Bocconi University (1996).
Prior to joining the Team, he was Managing Director of Eco Eridania SpA (a Fund V portfolio company) and CEO of Mengozzi Rifiuti Sanitari SpA. He previously spent several years as Director of PriceWaterhouseCoopers Advisory SpA where he worked in the M&A advisory team. Prior to this he was part of the Investment Banking team of Efibanca SpA and spent two years with IMI Sigeco SIM.
Director
Mr Civita joined in October 2019 and is charge of the management of portfolio companies. Mr Civita holds an MBA from INSEAD (2015) and a degree in business administration from ESCP Business School (2010).
Prior to joining the Team, he was Senior M&A Manager in Enel X where he was responsible for origination and execution of M&A deals of the Enel group subsidiary focused on the energy transition, electric mobility and smart cities solutions. He previously spent 5 years as a management consultant for Booz & Company based in Milan, Doha and Jakarta. Prior to this he was an analyst in 4D Global Energy Advisors, a French Private Equity firm based in Paris.
Investment Manager
Mr Banfi joined in May 2019 and supports investment execution and the management of portfolio companies. Mr Banfi holds a degree in business administration from Bocconi University (2014).
Prior to joining Xenon, Mr Banfi was part of the M&A and Business Development team at Luxottica, where he worked on the combination and integration with Essilor. He joined Luxottica through a graduate program which involved job rotations in sales and marketing divisions. Prior to Luxottica he worked as a financial analyst in GE Capital.
Co-Managing Director Small Cap Fund
Mr Mantero joined in 2019 and is Xenon Small Cap Co-Managing Director. He holds a Monetary Economics degree from Bocconi University (1993).
Prior to joining Xenon Mr Mantero spent five years at Ninja Investments, a club deal platform focused on direct equity investments into small innovative Italian B2B service companies. Before that Mr Mantero was an executive director at Vestar Capital Partners, a US private equity fund, where he worked for more than nine years in their Milan office investing into mid-large Italian companies. Before Vestar Capital Partners Mr Mantero was an investment banker with Merril Lynch in New York, London and Milan.
Co-Managing Director Small Cap Fund
Mr Bruzzichesi joined in joined in 2019 and is Xenon Small Cap Co-Managing Director. Mr Bruzzichesi graduated in 1995 in Business Administration at La Sapienza University in Rome and started his career at INA, one of the largest insurance companies in Italy.
In 1998 Mr Bruzzichesi moved to Milan to join Private Equity Partners, one of the first Italian PE Fund where he eventually became executive director. In 2014 Mr Bruzzichesi started arranging club deals in the microcap sector and formed Ninja Investments in partnership with Michelangelo Mantero.
Senior Investment Manager
Mr Gasparini joined in 2021 as senior investment manager. Mr. Gasparini graduated in 2008 in management engineering – specialty finance – from the Milan Politecnico. He initially spent 5 years in Quadrivio, eventually as senior analyst and then in 2014 he moved to DeA Capital as associate. In 2016 he moved to Assietta Private Equity as investment manager.
Conducting officer
Mr Cavadini joined in 2018 as conducting officer. Mr Cavadini graduated in 1995 from Bocconi University in Business Administration and spent his entire career in various positions in the asset management industry in Italy and abroad.
Xenon AIFM S.A.in-house origination approach is mainly performed thanks to the cooperation with the affiliate Investment & Advisory S.A., that can count on 4 professionals with more than thirty years’ experience in the corporate advisory field.
Giovanni Munacò
Valuation
Susanna Ciapponi
Accounting & Reporting
Anne-Marie Pratiffi
Compliance
Erika Conti
Administration
A communication that is not an end in itself
We do not consider our fellow entrepreneurs’ company a target, a trophy to be inserted in our track-record table.
We do not look for a press coverage of our activity and we are just concerned that the news of a transaction are correctly perceived as a positive one by the employees, the customers and all the other stakeholders.
Our team completed more than 140 investments so far (including add-ons to portfolio companies), nurturing the longest learning curve in the Italian market.