Italy's Esselunga picks Citi to assess possible bids – sources | Progresiv
The 90-year old founder of Italian supermarket chain Esselunga is considering a sale of the group and has picked Citigroup (C.N) as adviser to assess expressions of interest from private equity funds, two sources close to the matter said. One of the sources said that CVC Capital Partners and Blackstone had expressed interest in Italy's third-largest supermarket chain, which had revenue of 7.3 billion euros last year. 
The second source said the board of the family holding that owns Esselunga had been convened to give an advisory mandate to Citi but gave no further details. Citi and Esselunga declined to comment.
Esselunga, founded in 1957 by Bernardo Caprotti and his brothers, together with Nelson Rockefeller, operates mainly in the wealthy north of Italy and focuses on medium and large supermarkets as well as its online business.
The unlisted chain is worth between 4 billion euros and 6 billion euros, depending on the real estate that could be sold with the stores, La Repubblica newspaper reported at the weekend. (www.reuters.com)
