The historic private security company saves itself by taking on cyber attacks. From the checks it once performed with people, and shutters, the company has switched to adopt strategies against hackers to re-emerge from the spectre of bankruptcy and re-enter the most promising markets.
This is the story of Axitea and it has unfolded over the last 100 years: from its foundation in 1914 in Pisa to the bankruptcy arrangement in 2015. And with a turning point thanks to the gamble of an investment fund, which decided to believe in a new birth for the company. But although the fund is impersonal, the manager who steered the ship into port has a name and a face: Marco Bavazzano.
Until 2008, Axitea had grown by integrating other companies. Then the general slowdown in the market shrank its volumes and triggered a fiercer competition in which the company found itself trapped.
“It was at that time, recalls Bavazzano, that the company experienced a considerable increase in overdue payments and increasing difficulties in collecting revenue, thus also delaying payments to the tax authorities. Having obtained a bank loan to stay afloat, in 2012 it was declared in default and had to increase its debt.” The crisis led to bankruptcy proceedings and to the decision of the international private equity fund Stirling Square Capital Partners, which had entered into its ownership, to attempt a relaunch through the appointment of Bavazzano as CEO and a radical reorganisation project.
Bavazzano, from Genoa, was one of the pioneers of cybersecurity in Italy: in 2001 he built a team that defined and implemented a technological and organisational framework for the management and governance of cybersecurity for all Telecom Italia Group companies. From 2015 to 2018, he was president of the Italian Chapter of Asis International, the association of security professionals with more than 36,000 members worldwide in over 200 countries.
“In parallel with the execution of the arrangement plan,” the CEO recounts, “we set up a drastic company transformation, grafting in new employees and managers from large companies in the ICT sector, to implement a new industrial strategy aimed at focusing on technological services with greater added value, and in particular the integration of physical security management with cybersecurity management.” The turning point arrived: “We have succeeded in becoming the go-to partner for companies in the management of operational and technological risks,” says Bavazzano, “and today Axitea is among the leading companies in the private security sector in Italy, leaning towards activities with a high added value that make a significant technological contribution: currently 75% of turnover comes from such activities.”
The number of employees increased as well: 1,666 people at present compared to 1,292 at the end of 2016. And in the end, the company managed to settle all its remaining composition liabilities, which initially amounted to EUR 183 million. Recently, the news has reported that the court has issued a decree dismissing the arrangement procedure, formally closing the complicated Axitea reorganisation affair. “It is the crowning achievement of a journey,” concludes Bavazzano, “that has led us to be the only security company in Italy able to provide companies with integrated security services, i.e. to protect from physical and cyber risks.” The number of customers rose to 28,000, with a turnover of around EUR 79 million, an annual growth rate over the last five years of EBITDA of 22% and a net financial position of EUR 4 million.
