Valentino’s Qatari owner to sell 30% stake for $1.9bn

Valentino

The Qatari owner of Italian fashion brand Valentino is to sell a 30 percent stake to the French luxury group behind rival brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, it was announced on Thursday.

Paris-based Kering announced it will pay Mayhoola Lux Sàrl (Mayhoola), a Qatari investment company controlled by the mother of the Emir of Qatar, €1.7 billion ($1.87 billion) in cash for a minority stake in Valentino.

Mayhoola will retain a 70 percent stake, but the agreement gives Kering the option to acquire 100 percent of Valentino by 2028.

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The deal is part of a broader strategic partnership, which may also lead to Mayhoola becoming a shareholder in Kering, the statement said.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2023, subject to regulatory clearance.

Founded in 1960 in Rome, Valentino runs 211 stores globally and generated revenues of €1.4 billion and Ebitda of €350 million in 2022.

Mayhoola is an investment entity directly controlled by Qatari Mayhoola for Investments and led by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Missned, the wife of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Emir of Qatar who abdicated in 2013 in favour of his son.

Mayhoola’s luxury portfolio extends beyond Valentino and includes France’s Balmain and Italy’s Pal Zileri, as well as Turkish department store chain Beymen.

Kering’s most famous asset is Gucci, but its portfolio also includes brands such as Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, Qeelin, and Ginori. Kering has a global workforce of 47,000 employees and last year generated revenue of €20.4 billion.

Sales in the first quarter of this year increased 1 percent, as revenues fell in the US. Kering’s main rivals are Louis Vuitton owner LVMH and Birkin bag maker Hermes, which reported sales increases of 17 percent and 23 percent, respectively, across the same period.

“Kering’s performance in the first quarter remained mixed,” chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault said in a statement in April.