The story of the first unicorn Reply ICT made in Italy – Corcom

CHAMPIONS DIGITAL

Edoardo Narduzzi

 the Italian ICT also has his unicorn.
 Disinterest of most 2015 produced a major novelty for the information technology environment made in Italy: the first listed company that capitalizes on more than one billion euro. A unicorn, in fact, according to the phrase made famous by the Silicon Valley.

 The milestone was reached by Reply, a company founded in the nineties by Mario Rizzante, a serial entrepreneur who started his career as a student worker from the bottom of the Fiat group, which now capitalizes on the stock exchange more than 1.1 billion euro.

 Especially expressed by multiple advanced technology market 1.6 times sales and 13 times EBIT. And this is the main novelty to watch for investors and professionals in the sector, because of Reply exploits signaled to the financial markets, a fact that had never before been recorded in the Italian stock exchange. The fact that that when an Italian ICT has a business model that generates good cash, then a double-digit EBIT many years, and is well internationalized knows preside competitively the most innovative issues on the supply side, such as digital or big data, then that company is worth multiples of active German or British companies in the same business sector.

 To put it more simply: if in Italy there are farmers able to organize and grow quality ICT assets the market is willing to recognize and then to pay for these companies the same multiple stock exchanges of the best European and international peers.

 The challenge, then, becomes to offer technological quality companies to investors at a time of low interest rates are very helpful, as demonstrated by the tightness of hi-tech stocks in declining stock market, to keep them in portfolio.

 A short AIM disembark Vetrya, Italian firm with a quality comparable to that offered by Reply, which will collect new equity to finance international growth. Other quality ICT titles will follow in the coming months and will land on the stock market to seize the momentum. And ‘good news for the Italian economy, the quality of employment and for the innovative services made in Italy.

© ALL rIGHTS RESERVED 5 February 2016

tag: ict, unicorn, reply, EBIT, interest rates, fair stand, silicon valley , economy