IVS Group’s headquarters in Bergamo, Italy | Photo credit: IVS Group

Italian coffee roaster Lavazza is set to purchase a greater stake in vending machine operator IVS Group for €185m ($197m) with an agreement to fully acquire the business in 2027.  
 

Lavazza, which already owns a 20.4% stake in Bergamo-based IVS, said in a press release that it will launch a voluntary tender offer to buy a further 28.36% share with the aim of taking the business private. 

The Turin-based coffee roaster has an agreement in place with IVS’ majority stakeholder, IVS Partecipazioni, to acquire full control of the vending machine operator in 2027.  

The buyout offer values IVS at approximately €650m ($694m). IVS Partecipazioni will retain its 50.75% stake until put and call options are exercised after IVS Group’s 2026 full-year results. 

“The transaction represents a further investment by the Lavazza Group in the vending industry, in line with its strategy based on an omnichannel approach,” Lavazza said in a statement. 

In March 2024, Lavazza CEO Antonio Baravalle said the group’s strong financial position would enable it to ‘seize major market opportunities and deliver growth through acquisitions’. 

In a new statement, Baravalle said the IVS deal will enable Lavazza to ‘compete with the other major coffee players at an international level’. 

IVS Group is the largest vending machine operator in Italy, with a 21% market share by value, and the second largest in Europe, with a 7% share. Its vending network currently comprises more than 281,000 automatic vending machines and office self-serve coffee machines across 11 markets, including Italy, France, Germany and Spain. 

The group achieved 34% year-on-year sales growth in 2023 to reach €762.2m ($814m) alongside adjusted net profit of €13.8m ($14.7m). 

Lavazza has been steadily building its vending machine network in recent years. In December 2018, the coffee roaster acquired Mars Drinks’ single-serve Flavia and Klix freestanding vending machine business in the US, Germany, UK, France and Japan, which it rebranded as Lavazza Professional. 

The business took a 17.7% stake in IVS Group in January 2020 for €75m ($80m) before acquiring UK vending fulfilment company Fulfill from the Compass Group in the following June. In December 2023, Lavazza Professional acquired Scottish bean-to-cup and coffee vending machine operator SV24-7 Vending for an undisclosed sum.