(FILES) Clothier Donatella Versace acknowledges applause following the Versace ladies’s Fall/Winter 2019/2020 assortment style present, on February 22, 2019 in Milan. Italian style 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 might higher compete with business giants such because the French conglomerates LVMH and Kering amid a slowdown within the sector worldwide. (Photograph by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)
MILAN, Italy — Italian style 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 would higher compete with business 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 robust dedication to creativity, craftmanship and heritage,” Prada group chair and government director Patrizio Bertelli stated in a press release.
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In 2018, Capri paid 1.83 billion euros (then $2.1 billion) to amass Versace, which was beforehand owned 80 % by the Versace household and 20 % by the US funding fund BlackRock.
Amid declining gross sales on the Milan-based label, it put Versace up on the market, and commenced unique negotiations with Prada on the finish of February.
Cheaper price tag
Capri, which additionally owns Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors, needed to settle for a lowered worth from Prada amid the market turmoil brought on by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The Monetary Occasions reported that the value was initially anticipated to be about $1.6 billion however had been negotiated downwards in latest days.
Final month, Donatella Versace stepped down as artistic director after greater than 30 years, a transfer extensively 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 artistic director by Dario Vitale, who has overseen hovering gross sales at Miu Miu, Prada’s sister model focusing on a youthful clientele.
Donatella Versace, who turns 70 in Might, 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 %.
Against this, Prada, below the artistic 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 internet revenue jumped 25 % to 839 million euros in 2024, with revenues up 15 % to five.4 billion euros.
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Andrea Guerra, Prada’s group chief government officer, stated on Thursday that Versace had “big potential” however warned there was work to do.
“The journey can be lengthy and would require disciplined execution and endurance. The evolution of a model at all times wants time and fixed focus,” he stated.
The deal, funded by 1.5 billion euros of recent debt, is predicted to shut within the second half of 2025.
‘Complementary addition’
The 2 style labels have starkly totally different types, with Versace’s exuberance contrasting with Prada’s subtle minimalism.
Prada stated its new acquisition “constitutes a strongly complementary addition” to its portfolio.
It stated Versace will “preserve its artistic DNA and cultural authenticity”, whereas benefitting from Prada’s “industrial capabilities, retail execution and operational experience”.
The deal bucks the development of latest years, which has seen main names in Italian style similar to Gucci, Fendi and Bottega Veneta fall below the management of their French rivals.
Model revival
“Prada will be capable to deliver 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 develop the Prada portfolio — which additionally contains luxurious footwear manufacturers Automobile Shoe and Church’s — presents 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 have been weighing down its monetary outcomes.
In 2000, Prada collectively acquired a 51 % stake within the Roman label Fendi with LVMH, however offered its 25.5 % 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 turn out to be distracted from its core enterprise,” Luca Solca, an analyst at Bernstein, advised AFP.
