DES MOINES, Iowa, and PARMA, Italy — Convenience-store retailer’s Kum & Go LC’s parent company, Krause Group, has acquired a 90% controlling stake in Italian soccer team Parma Calcio 1913, as well as a 99% state in Progetto Stadio Parma, the company created to manage the renovation project of Tardini Stadium, in Parma, Italy. The deal reportedly valued the team at more than $100 million.
Des Moines, Iowa-based Krause Group, led by Chairman and CEO Kyle Krause, is the parent company to a diverse set of businesses in the United States and Italy that include convenience retail, logistics, wineries, hospitality, real estate, agriculture and sports.
“The acquisition of Parma Calcio 1913 is the fulfilment of a long-held dream,” said Krause. “My family and I have a deep-rooted, intergenerational passion for both football and our ancestral home of Italy. Parma Calcio 1913 are fighters and bouncing back from Serie D with three consecutive promotions in three years is a testament to their resilience. As president, I promise to fight for them every step of the way. I am honored to don the yellow and blue and play a small part in the venerable history of this proud team. I look forward to growing the team, the sport and its fandom in Parma, Italy, and the world.”
- Krause was honored as CSP's 2018 Retail Leader of the Year.
Marco Ferrari, chairman of Nuovo Inizio, which owns 9% of the team, said, “The deal signed today signifies the completion of this mission: Kyle Krause’s passion for our country, sport and city makes him perfectly suited to write a new chapter in the history of Parma Calcio.”
Krause, the owner of the Des Moines Menace United Soccer League 2 (USL2) team, also seeks to bring a top-tier USL soccer club to Des Moines, which is on the league's list for expansion teams. To do so, he needs a stadium. In 2019, Blackacre Development LLC, a subsidiary of Krause Group, purchased 7.4 acres for $7.98 million nearly 4 acres for $2.45 million, reported the Des Moines Register. Both sites would hold the planned stadium, retail and office complex, an estimated $95 million development.
The purchase of the Italian soccer team increases Krause’s holdings in Italy. In 2015, Krause purchased 100% of the share capital of Enrico Serafino winery in Piedmont from Gruppo Campari, Milan, for $6.9 million. In 2016, Krause entered into a long-term partnership with Vietti’s Luca Currado and Mario Cordero to transition ownership of the 143-year-old Vietti winery, run by the family’s fifth generation, to the Krause family. Vietti is based in the small medieval village of Castiglione Falletto in the heart of Piedmont’s Langhe wine region.
Kum & Go, which generated $2.65 billion in sales in 2019, operates approximately 400 c-stores across 11 mostly Midwestern states. It is No. 18 on CSP’s 2020 Top 202 ranking of c-store chain’s by size.
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