On 7 October 2026, IMI plc, the London-listed engineering group, agreed to buy iSMA Controlli, an Italian maker of building-automation systems, at an enterprise value of €63 million. The sellers are its current shareholders, including B.group and members of the management team, according to IMI’s announcement. IMI will pay cash from its existing credit facilities, and expects to complete the deal in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to the usual regulatory approvals.
Enterprise value prices the whole business, including any net debt it carries. What the sellers receive for their shares, and how it is split, was not disclosed. IMI expects iSMA Controlli to make about €40 million of revenue and about €4.5 million of operating profit in 2026. By our calculation, the price is about 14 times that expected operating profit.
Who is selling
BeBeez, an Italian private-markets news site, describes B.group as the family office of Isabella Seragnoli’s family, and in 2021 called it a Bologna-based investment holding of the Seragnoli family. Isabella Seragnoli is also the sole shareholder of Coesia, the Bologna packaging-machinery group, according to Coesia’s website, and a 2009 profile by PMI.it described her as chair of both Coesia and B.group. We found no source that links B.group to Coesia as companies; what they share is the family.
Buy, build, sell
The deal follows a cycle many family offices use with mid-sized companies:
- Buy with management. B.group invested in Controlli, a company based in Genoa, through a management buyout in 2011, according to BeBeez.
- Build by merger. In June 2021, Controlli merged with Global Control 5, a Warsaw company that made electronic controls under the iSMA brand. The combined iSMA Controlli brought mechanical valves and digital controls under one name. IMI says it now designs and makes its products in Genoa and Gdańsk.
- Sell to a strategic buyer. IMI will add the business to its Climate Control sector. Its chief executive, Roy Twite, said the deal brings IMI closer to the “long-term megatrends of Energy and Automation.”
A strategic buyer can often pay more than a financial one, because it expects to sell the target’s products through its own network. A family office usually has no fixed fund life, unlike most private-equity funds, so it can wait for that kind of buyer. Here, the holding lasted about 15 years.
What to watch
- Whether the deal completes in the fourth quarter of 2026, as IMI expects.
- Whether the sellers’ stakes or the equity price are disclosed later.
- Where B.group puts the proceeds next.
A fair caveat
The 2011 entry date comes from one outlet, BeBeez, and the stakes of B.group and the managers are not public. Revenue and profit for 2026 are IMI’s expectations, not reported results. Completion still depends on regulatory approvals.
Questions to bring to your advisors
When our family office invests alongside managers, have we agreed in advance how and when we might sell, and to whom? These are questions to bring to your advisors, not advice.