Investor-backed pizza manufacturer Valsa has acquired fellow Italian business I Maestri del Forno through a majority interest.

Private-equity firm Aksìa said Bologna-based Valsa’s annual revenues will reach €180m ($208.6m) post the transaction, without providing details of current sales nor the financial terms of the deal for its Italian counterpart.

Headquartered in Pastorano, Caserta province, I Maestri del Forno produces pizza and other Italian bakery goods such as saltimbocca, puce and panuozzi for retail customers.

It is the latest bakery acquisition for Aksìa, which bought Valsa in 2020. Last year, the investor took a majority stake in Yahm, a chilled pizza maker in Italy, following a deal within the same category for Menchetti Food in 2023.

The investor also snapped up La Pizza+1 in 2021 through its portfolio company Valpizza, which was acquired by Aksìa the previous year. Also in 2021, another local pizza business C&D was added to the roster.

Valsa, which is run by CEO Marco Setti, now supplies retail and foodservice through a combination of branded and private-label pizza along with Italian bakery such as pinsa, flatbreads and focaccia.

Founded in 2018, I Maestri del Forno supplies frozen, chilled and ambient products to retail and the hospitality sector.

Its CEO Francesco Festante said in a statement: “I Maestri del Forno was founded on the idea of bringing typical products of the local culinary tradition to an industrial scale.

“We see Valsa as a successful group of which we have followed the strategic developments over recent years, and we are therefore proud to become part of this group and contribute to its future growth.”

Aksìa said it plans to invest in production at I Maestri del Forno but is still ironing out the details. The pizza company’s shareholders have opted to “reinvest” with a minority interest.

Marco Rayneri, a founding partner of Aksìa, said: “We are pleased to announce this further milestone in the buy-and-build strategy undertaken by Valsa with the support of Aksìa.

“It once again demonstrates how the segment and strategic positioning chosen at the beginning of the project continue to offer significant value-creation prospects, as well as the opportunity to welcome fast-growing businesses such as I Maestri del Forno into the group, where Valsa can provide a further acceleration to their development path.”