People: No rest for Villa

Alfredo Villa, the ambitious Swiss-based Italian fund manager now heading idiosyncratic investment outfit Brainspark, is getting busy as he seeks to turn the little-understood AIM company into a ‘leisure operating company’. His plans include bringing a London-based fund into the company’s Mediapolis Italian theme park in a £45 million share deal, perhaps involving an Italian property magnate, and selling or floating another Italian venture, the Bebop media concern, in a deal he hopes will value it at £10 million to £20 million.

The indefatigable Villa, who took former China play Brainspark into stockbroker Daniel Stewart and then out of it again, intends to arrange a float for another Italian investment, cash-rich Ora Hotels, big in Italy, Dubai, Mozambique and Madagascar, and has a reverse deal in mind for fellow AIM counter Indian Restaurants Group, in which Brainspark bought a key stake last year. The ‘rabbit in the hat’ is a theme park venture in China.

Villa, who has parted amicably but without regret from Brainspark’s former chairman, Professor Francesco Gardin, and recently saw off a winding-up petition from a former business associate called Giamascio, says his goal is to buy cheaply and then realise the value of Brainspark’s investments. The shares are out of favour just now, but, he suggests, ‘if we get an outrageous offer, we might sell’.