Bridgepoint Capital, the European private equity firm, has beaten rivals Permira, GE Capital and Honeywell in an auction to buy Caffaro, the Italian maker of flexible packaging firm.

Sources close to Caffaro's owner Snia, which struck a deal worth more than €120m ($119m), said Bridgepoint had an edge over its rivals in the auction because it was backing Caffaro's management. The auction was run by Interbanca, the Italian bank.