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On Thursday, Kering and Mayhoola announced that the former would acquire a 30% stake in Valentino, with the option to buy 100% of the company by 2028, for €1.7 billion.
Valentino’s been a part of Mayhoola since 2012, when the Qatar investment group bought Valentino SpA and the M Missoni license for $858 million. (Mayhoola also owns Balmain and Pal Zileri.) This announcement is “part of a broader strategic partnership between Kering and Mayhoola,” the two conglomerates said in the announcement, “which could lead to Mayhoola becoming a shareholder in Kering.” This will also allow them to “explore potential joint opportunities in line with their respective development strategies.”
Jacopo Venturini, CEO of Valentino since 2020, will stay on. In the press release, both companies lauded the executive’s work in elevating the fashion house on a global scale. Valentino’s sales were up 10% in 2022, going up to €1.42 billion.
Kering Chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault said he’s “impressed with the evolution of Valentino under Mayhoola ownership and very delighted that Mayhoola has chosen Kering as its partner for the development of Valentino, a unique Italian house that is synonymous with beauty and elegance.”
Rachid Mohamed Rachid, CEO of Mayhoola and chairman of Valentino, added: “Under our stewardship, Valentino has strengthened its foundations as a highly desirable luxury brand, and we will keep reinforcing the brand in the next chapter with Kering. We look forward to our partnership with Kering in Valentino and also in other potential opportunities to explore investments together.”
Earlier this week, Valentino made some changes to its C-suite: Chief Brand Officer Alessio Vannetti exited; Andrea Cappi joined as chief e-commerce and omnichannel officer (taking over some chief brand officer responsibilities), Laurent Bergamo was named chief commercial officer and Yigit Turhan was promoted from director of brand strategy to chief marketing officer.
The news also follows some restructuring at Kering, which announced last week that Gucci CEO Marco Bizzari would be exiting, that YSL CEO Francesca Bellettini added the title of Kering Deputy CEO for Brand Development; and that Kering CFO Jean-Marc Duplaix became the company’s deputy CEO of operations and finance. On Wednesday, the group announced a 2% increase in revenue in the first half of 2023.
An only-tangentially-related, not-super-consequential effect of this development: Will we soon be seeing Salma Hayek-Pinault in some Pierpaolo Piccioli haute couture, as part of her Kering-brand-only wardrobe?
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