Immediately following the announcement that the SAE publishing group led by Alberto Leonardis has acquired control of Different, with the two founding partners Davide Arduini and Andrea Cimenti remaining at the helm of the Communication Company as CEO and Managing Director respectively, and with the simultaneous creation of SAE Communication, in which SAE itself holds a 60% stake and the two aforementioned partners of the agency the remaining 40%, Arduini and Cimenti comment on the operation, which is aimed at creating a communications hub with a stated goal of achieving €100 million in turnover in 24 months.
The strategy
"Of course," they explain, "this will mainly happen through acquisitions for which we already have some negotiations underway, but with a view to integrating and enriching our Group's offering, because our growth strategy is industrial rather than financial, which is why we entered into the agreement with SAE that led us to reinvest the proceeds from the sale in SAE Communication. However, Different's contribution to this plan will be increasingly important, as demonstrated by the fact that, after exceeding €30 million in turnover in 2023 with single-digit growth but with an adjusted EBITDA that exceeded +10%, our goal is to increase turnover by another 10-15% this year. This is thanks to the confirmation and increase in services requested by existing customers and the acquisition of new ones, to which others will soon be added thanks to winning the relevant tenders. Thanks to the fact that we are able to offer an increasingly comprehensive range of services, we have increased the average number of services requested from us from 2 to 4, as evidenced by brands such as Mediolanum, AIA, Cassina, and L'Oréal. In many cases, after a number of tenders, Mail Boxes Etc. was added for international communication, Roncato for creativity, production, and planning; Grandi Stazioni Retail; Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano for the international campaign which, in recent weeks, has been appropriately adapted and is now also going on air in Italy; and Les Copains di OVS for various communication activities. Meanwhile, we are already in negotiations for a number of acquisitions with a particular focus on the advanced technologies sector. It should not be forgotten that our offering also includes the research and exit poll services of EMG Different, which we controlled 81% with 19% owned by Fabrizio Masia who, with his team, provides us with a qualitative reading of the data we use for the activities developed by our 170 talented employees.
The Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of Different also includes Donato Iacovone, former CEO of EY Southern Europe and now Chairman of the Board of Directors of Webu ild, as well as a member of the Advisory Board of the SAE Group, in the role of Chairman, and Marco Racano and Massimo Briolini, who also acted as advisors on the transaction alongside EY. Reinvesting shareholders Arduini and Cimenti were advised by AMTF Avvocati on legal matters and by Arkios on financial matters.
The other minority shareholders of Different are therefore leaving the company and the Board of Directors. These are the other CEO, Massimiliano Gusmeo, Lorenzo Cabras, who was CSO, and Roberto Frassinelli, who will remain with the agency as CFO. Different will continue to have Luca Cavalli as GM and will soon announce the new creative leadership team following the departure of Francesco Guerrera.
