One of the foremost names in luxury retail, PPR Group, a French luxury retail brand is reportedly in the plans of acquiring Brioni, an Italian family run brand of exclusive tailoring for an amount of $508.4 million. This acquisition move has been initiated by PPR Group to make good the company’s commitment of entering the realm of luxury and luxury sports brands and let go of the traditional retail portfolio. PPR Group currently owns and controls some of the biggest names in luxury fashion and sports such as the likes of Gucci and Puma, while it has also been stated that the company is also actively involved in the sale of catalogue retailer Redcats. The sale of Redcats will effectively pave way for PPR Group to sell off Fnac, leading name in cutting edge technological products.
PPR Group recently acquired Volcom, a premier sports brand in the U.S and went to purchase control of Sowind Group, the famous Swiss watch manufactures of whom the PPR Group was already 23% owner and brought to the table renowned brands such as Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard. As per the experts in the luxury sector, the acquisition of Brioni will bring to the PPR Group an estimated $129 million worth of debt that Brioni owes in the market. Brioni was said to have recorded an annual turnover of $272 million for the year 2010. French companies’ influence in the Italian market has been steadily increasing, as the Italian luxury jewelry group Bulgari was recently acquired by the French group LVMH, while another French entity, Lactalis also bought Italy’s biggest listed food group, Parmalat.
According to sources,
“PPR is always looking, always discussing. That it moves to a concrete deal is not always the case. It’s a little bit divided within PPR what to do with it.â€
Via Reuters
