Bialetti, the Italian manufacturer of the famed stove-top moka coffee pot, has struck a deal to sell the business to an investment vehicle owned by a Chinese tycoon.
Founded in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti, an engineer who produced the first coffee pots from his workshop in Crusinallo, Piedmont, the company is being bought by Luxembourg-registered NUO Capital, which will pay €53m (£46m) for 78.6% of its shares.
The deal is expected to close by the end of June before a tender for the remaining shares is launched, at a price of no less than €0.467 each, before the company is delisted from Milan’s stock exchange.
The buyout is subject to regulatory approval, including scrutiny under “golden powers” regulations that allow the Italian government to block or set conditions for corporate takeovers.
NUO Capital is headed by Stephen Cheng, a member of one of Hong Kong’s richest families.
The acquisition of the Italian brand to a Chinese fund comes at a sensitive time for Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, according to Wolfango Piccoli, a co-president of political risk advisory at the London-based research company Teneo.
Meloni will meet Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday in an effort to reignite dialogue with the EU over his threatened trade tariff increases. But Italy’s relationship with China, with whom the US is embroiled in a fierce tariff war, could be problematic.
“On one hand, she is attempting to pursue a soft reset with China following Italy’s withdrawal from the belt and road initiative,” said Piccoli. “On the other, she is keen to position herself as president Trump’s preferred European partner.”
Bialetti’s inexpensive but stylish octagonal moka pots were aimed at bringing the espresso-style experience into the home. The name moka originated from the city of Mokha in Yemen, one of the first places in the world to produce coffee.
Bialetti struggled during the second world war due to a shortage of aluminium but was then revived by Alfonso’s son, Renato, who was celebrated for turning the moka pot into a global icon after introducing “the little man with a moustache”, a mascot representing a caricature of himself that was printed on the side of the pots. Renato died in 2016, with his ashes buried inside a giant moka.
Although other brands have replicated the moka pot, a study in 2010 found that 90% of Italian households owned a Bialetti.
But the company has struggled in recent years due to poor investments and competition from capsule coffee makers. Bialetti expanded by opening stores in shopping malls, but business took a hit during the Covid pandemic, and its venture into the sale of kitchen utensils has been unsuccessful.
In 2024, company posted a €1.1m loss and closed the year with adjusted net financial debts of €81.9m.
Egidio Cozzi, who will stay on as Bialetti chief executive after the acquisition, said: “Today Bialetti is a more solid company, with a clear strategic vision and a globally recognised brand.”
