Advent International is preparing to bring Italian industrial confectionery group Irca to market in a sale that could value the business at about €3bn, says Bloomberg.

UBS and Rothschild are advising on the process, which is expected to launch later this quarter. The transaction would add to a growing pipeline of buyout exits anticipated in 2026 as market sentiment improves.

Banks and private credit funds are already lining up to finance a potential acquisition. Debt packages under discussion range from €1.2bn to €1.6bn, equating to roughly six to eight times Irca’s EBITDA of about €200m. Private credit lenders are said to be more willing to underwrite leverage at the upper end of that range, while banks would likely favour high-yield bonds, most likely floating-rate notes.

Advent acquired Irca from Carlyle in 2022, backing the deal with around €600m of debt. Since then, Irca has continued to expand internationally. In 2023, Kerry Group sold its Sweet Ingredients Portfolio to Irca for €500m. The company refinanced its debt in 2024, issuing €1.1bn of floating-rate notes.

Founded more than a century ago, Irca employs over 2,000 people and operates 21 production facilities across Europe, the US, and Vietnam, supplying customers in more than 100 countries.

The prospective sale illustrates the renewed competition between banks and private credit funds to finance large buyouts, as improving deal flow and tighter spreads encourage lenders back into the market.

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