by Prada has agreed to buy the Versace fashion brand for € 1.25 billion ($ 1.38 billion) from the fashion conglomerate Capri Holdings.
After months of speculation, there is a potential offer to combine the two Italian fashion houses and recently rumored that the acquisition should collapse after the market was transferred to President Trump’s tariff policy.
Insiders say that the original deal is expected to be agreed EUR 1.43 billion, but a discount of around € 180 million has been reached because the recent turbulence and trade uncertainties have reached the retail industry particularly difficult.
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Capri, who also belongs to Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, originally bought Versace for $ 2.1 billion in 2018. After an attempt by Tapestry in the amount of USD 8.5 billion – the American group, the coach and Kate spade, Capri from the US Federal Trade Commission, Capri, was put under pressure, reducing the debts. According to the deal, Prada was one of the earliest bidders.
In a statement in which the news was confirmed, the group chairman of Prada and Executive Director Patrizio Bertelli said that the group is “ready and well positioned to write a new page in Versace’s story”. Bertelli added that both companies “have a strong commitment to creativity, craft and inheritance”.
While Capri has not created an American luxury group to compete with fashion companies such as LVMH and Kering competing fashion companies, the acquisition indicates in an attempt by Prada to strengthen its position as an Italian power pack. Versace will join the Prada and Miu Miu fashion brands, the shoe shoe shoe and Luna Rossa, the sailing team of the America’s Cup, Luna Rossa, and the pastry Brand Marchesi.
It is not the first endeavor of Prada that complements its portfolio. In 1999 Jil Sander and Helmut Lang acquired it and added Alaia to his line -up in 2000. By 2007, according to a number of disputes and financial challenges, it had separated from all three brands. The Versace acquisition now offers you another opportunity to intensify the global range of the made in Italy Group.
While the luxury fashion market was confronted with a significant slowdown, the Prada group is less likely to be successful. It reported sales of € 5.4 billion in 2024, 17% higher than in the previous year. This increase was partially driven by Miu Miu behind these viral micro-mini skirts and satin ballet shoes, which almost doubled the profits this year and has achieved almost 1 billion GBP in sales.
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Last month it was announced that Dario Vitale, a former image Director at Miu Miu, Donatella Versace as a creative director, would follow a position that Versace had been taking place for 27 years. Instead, Versace will take on the role of the Chief brand ambassador, which monitors the red carpet dressing of the house and the philanthropic work of the house.
Prada and Versace will often compete against each other because Italian fashion competitors are diametrically opposed. Versace is committed to the traditional tropics of femininity with an unadorned enthusiasm – see high hemlines, high heels and large hair. Miuccia Prada, who received her doctorate in political science and was a communist before entering the family business in 1970, is often referred to as “intellectual fashion”. She previously described her work as ugly clothing in hideous fabrics. However, the two women have a perhaps unlikely friendship. In 2012, Versace said with the Telegraph: “We only talk, talk, talk. She is so inspiring. We make fun of each other and teach each other. She says:” I could never make sexy clothes, but I love her. “And I say:” Well, I love what you do “.
