(FILES) Designer Donatella Versace acknowledges applause following the Versace girls’s Fall/Winter 2019/2020 assortment vogue present, on February 22, 2019 in Milan. Italian vogue home Prada introduced on April 10, 2025 that it had reached a take care of US group Capri Holdings to purchase Versace for 1.25 billion euros ($1.39 billion). The acquisition will create a luxurious group with revenues of over 6 billion euros, which may higher compete with trade giants such because the French conglomerates LVMH and Kering amid a slowdown within the sector worldwide. (Photograph by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)
MILAN, Italy — Italian vogue home Prada introduced Thursday it had reached a take care of US group Capri Holdings to purchase its flashy rival Versace for 1.25 billion euros ($1.38 billion).
The acquisition will create a luxurious group with revenues of over six billion euros that might higher compete with trade giants such because the French conglomerates LVMH and Gucci proprietor Kering, amid a slowdown within the sector worldwide.
“We’re delighted to welcome Versace to the Prada Group and to construct a brand new chapter for a model with which we share a powerful dedication to creativity, craftmanship and heritage,” Prada group chair and govt director Patrizio Bertelli mentioned in an announcement.
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In 2018, Capri paid 1.83 billion euros (then $2.1 billion) to amass Versace, which was beforehand owned 80 p.c by the Versace household and 20 p.c by the US funding fund BlackRock.
Amid declining gross sales on the Milan-based label, it put Versace up on the market, and started unique negotiations with Prada on the finish of February.
Lower cost tag
Capri, which additionally owns Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors, needed to settle for a decreased worth from Prada amid the market turmoil brought on by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The Monetary Instances reported that the value was initially anticipated to be about $1.6 billion however had been negotiated downwards in current days.
Final month, Donatella Versace stepped down as inventive director after greater than 30 years, a transfer broadly seen as a prelude to the accord.
She took over in 1997 following the homicide of her older brother Gianni, who based the label in 1978.
However on April 1 she was changed as inventive director by Dario Vitale, who has overseen hovering gross sales at Miu Miu, Prada’s sister model concentrating on a youthful clientele.
Donatella Versace, who turns 70 in Could, is now the label’s chief model ambassador.
Lengthy journey
Whereas nonetheless a label related to the jet set, a few of Versace’s luster has waned in recent times.
It posted $193 million in income in its fiscal 2025 third quarter, down 15 p.c.
In contrast, Prada, underneath the inventive helm of Miuccia Prada, the 76-year-old granddaughter of group founder Mario, is in strong well being.
Regardless of the worldwide slowdown in gross sales of luxurious items, Prada’s web revenue jumped 25 p.c to 839 million euros in 2024, with revenues up 15 p.c to five.4 billion euros.
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Andrea Guerra, Prada’s group chief govt officer, mentioned on Thursday that Versace had “large potential” however warned there was work to do.
“The journey shall be lengthy and would require disciplined execution and endurance. The evolution of a model all the time wants time and fixed focus,” he mentioned.
The deal, funded by way of 1.5 billion euros of latest debt, is anticipated to shut within the second half of 2025.
‘Complementary addition’
The 2 vogue labels have starkly completely different kinds, with Versace’s exuberance contrasting with Prada’s subtle minimalism.
Prada mentioned its new acquisition “constitutes a strongly complementary addition” to its portfolio.
It mentioned Versace will “preserve its inventive DNA and cultural authenticity”, whereas benefitting from Prada’s “industrial capabilities, retail execution and operational experience”.
The deal bucks the pattern of current years, which has seen main names in Italian vogue resembling Gucci, Fendi and Bottega Veneta fall underneath the management of their French rivals.
Model revival
“Prada will be capable of convey gentle again right into a model that was dying and infuse it with new life,” Antonio Bandini Conti, a design guide, advised AFP.
Nevertheless, a earlier try and broaden the Prada portfolio — which additionally consists of luxurious footwear manufacturers Automotive Shoe and Church’s — provides a cautionary story.
In 1999, the household group acquired the German model Jil Sander and the Austrian label Helmut Lang earlier than promoting them in 2006 as they had been weighing down its monetary outcomes.
In 2000, Prada collectively acquired a 51 p.c stake within the Roman label Fendi with LVMH, however offered its 25.5 p.c stake to the French luxurious large a 12 months later.
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With the Versace acquisition, “I see a danger for Prada to change into distracted from its core enterprise,” Luca Solca, an analyst at Bernstein, advised AFP.
