|
Gucci to grab YSL?
|
 |
November 15, 1999: 6:28 a.m. ET
Italian fashion house reportedly poised to pay $952M for French couture giant
|
LONDON (CNNfn) - The rush for prestige labels sweeping the luxury sector gathered force Monday, with a report that Italian fashion group Gucci is to acquire French fashion firm Yves Saint Laurent.
Gucci is said to be putting the finishing touches to a deal to pay Pinault-Printemps Redoute, around 6 billion French francs ($952 million) to secure control of its unit Sanofi Beauté, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Sanofi Beauté holds a controlling stake in Saint Laurent and several upscale perfume brands.
Gucci declined to comment on the report Monday, though the company is reported to have been conducting a due diligence audit on Yves Saint Laurent for several months.
The acquisition would ratchet the stakes further for Gucci's nemesis in the luxury goods sector, France's LVMH Moet Hennessy, whose enormous luxury goods portfolio includes brands such as Dom Perignon and Veuve Clicquot champagne and Givenchy perfumes.
Last winter, LVMH was thwarted in its efforts to buy Gucci after the latter teamed up with white knight defender Pinault-Printemps, which took a 42 percent holding in Gucci. Pinault-Printemps also snapped up the Yves Saint Laurent label, effectively shielding it from an LVMH assault.
In the intervening months, the brinkmanship in the luxury goods sector has seen a few big houses circling the wagons around a handful of coveted prizes.
In mid-September, LVMH paid $740 million for Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer. That deal was preceded earlier in the same month by privately-held Italian fashion house Prada's acquisition of quality British shoemaker Church & Co. for $172 million.
In October, LVMH and Prada beat out Gucci, Texas Pacific and Bulgari with a successful $900 million bid for fur and handbag group Fendi.
The Journal said the Gucci-Saint Laurent transaction has been under negotiation for several months but was delayed by a series of snags. These included questions of how to properly compensate Saint Laurent co-founder and chief executive Pierre Berge for relinquishing control of his company to Gucci.
The newspaper said Berge would likely retain managerial responsibilities of Saint Laurent's haute couture business. Gucci chairman and chief executive, Domenico De Sole and Gucci creative director Tom Ford would acquire and run the remainder of Saint Laurent's activities, the newspaper said.
--from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
