Francesca Busnelli Buys Enzo Degli Angiuoni, Changes Name to EDA
November 28, 2023
Francesca Busnelli
Garbagnate Monastero, IT—Francesca Busnelli, the 40-year-old majority shareholder, together with a pool of unidentified investors, acquired Enzo Degli Angiuoni, a high-end jacquard upholstery mill here in November.
The purchase price was not disclosed but local newspapers report the company has sales of around $11 million. The partners also made an additional capital infusion to the company through an investment vehicle, it was learned.
Busnelli’s first order of business was to establish EDA as the new brand and company name. Earlier in 2023, Limonta, the largest Italian textile maker, had made a bid for Angiuoni but failed to close the deal.
“The family dimension was one of the determining factors of EDA's success together with creativity and dynamism, thus becoming a reference in the sector,” Busnelli says.
She describes herself as an entrepreneur but worked for EDA as a brand manager for one year before making the purchase from Enzo Angiuoni, who founded the mill in 1981.
Maria Adele Cappelli, the current design director, will continue her role as creative director, Busnelli says. Cappelli is also the wife of the founder, Enzo Angiuoni, who will now retire from the company he so loved.
Going forward, Busnelli says EDA will invest more in digitalization and innovation, strengthening equipment and management and control systems for industrial processes.
The structure of the collections will also be revised, she says, with greater attention paid to new market trends, including the theme of sustainability.
Her family is the founder of B&B Italia, the high-end Italian furniture maker, now a division of Design Holding, a private equity fund which owns other high-end brands of home furnishings.
The relaunch of EDA may include other acquisitions. Reportedly, EDA also expects to expand into the consumer market with the production and marketing of decorative accessories in cashmere and wool, aimed at the home sectors and hotels.
The purchase price was not disclosed but local newspapers report the company has sales of around $11 million. The partners also made an additional capital infusion to the company through an investment vehicle, it was learned.
Busnelli’s first order of business was to establish EDA as the new brand and company name. Earlier in 2023, Limonta, the largest Italian textile maker, had made a bid for Angiuoni but failed to close the deal.
“The family dimension was one of the determining factors of EDA's success together with creativity and dynamism, thus becoming a reference in the sector,” Busnelli says.
She describes herself as an entrepreneur but worked for EDA as a brand manager for one year before making the purchase from Enzo Angiuoni, who founded the mill in 1981.
Maria Adele Cappelli, the current design director, will continue her role as creative director, Busnelli says. Cappelli is also the wife of the founder, Enzo Angiuoni, who will now retire from the company he so loved.
Going forward, Busnelli says EDA will invest more in digitalization and innovation, strengthening equipment and management and control systems for industrial processes.
The structure of the collections will also be revised, she says, with greater attention paid to new market trends, including the theme of sustainability.
Her family is the founder of B&B Italia, the high-end Italian furniture maker, now a division of Design Holding, a private equity fund which owns other high-end brands of home furnishings.
The relaunch of EDA may include other acquisitions. Reportedly, EDA also expects to expand into the consumer market with the production and marketing of decorative accessories in cashmere and wool, aimed at the home sectors and hotels.
