Bialetti is reported to be on the verge of a buyout deal with the part Chinese owned company.
Italian manufacturer of the Moka Express stove-top coffee maker, Bialetti, has been hit by the rise of electric coffee machines, The Times has reported.
Bialetti has produced the Moka Express model since its inventor sold his patent to Alfonso Bialetti, an aluminium metal worker, in 1933. Today the company sells an estimated two million mokas every year.
Bialetti was given an extended deadline of 30 April to pay off debts of €90.3 million, up from just over €78.2 million in 2018. Improved revenues of €104.7 million last year, up 6%, have not been enough to save the company, which has been on the hunt for a buyer since 2023.
Now Bialetti is on the verge of a deal with Nuo Capital, founded by Stephen Cheng, managing director of the World Wide Investment Company (WWIC) in Hong Kong.
Under its new ownership, it plans to expand international sales, develop ecommerce channels and increase investment in marketing.
Nuo, set up to invest in medium-sized Italian companies, owns parts of the Venchi chocolate manufacturer and the Bending Spoons technology company. It is jointly owned by WWIC and Exor, the Netherlands-based holding company of Italy’s powerful Agnelli family.
