The Italian fashion house Prada takes over rival Versace for 1.25 billion euros. The company announced this on Thursday. The deal should be round in the second half of 2025.
Prada, controlled by fashion designer Miuccia Prada and her husband Patrizio Bertelli, buys Versace from the American luxury holding Capri (Michael Kors). It had been known for some time that both companies were close to an agreement after months of negotiations.
Capri bought Versace in 2018 for around 1.8 billion euros from the Versace family and investment company Blackstone, but did not succeed in fulfilling its growth ambitions with the brand. Under Prada – the largest luxury concern in Italy – Versace is once again in Italian hands. Both fashion houses are located in Milan.
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By Versace – founded in 1978 by Gianni Versace – in, Prada strengthens its position on the luxury market. The group in particular has to compete with the much larger French players LVMH and Kering.
The agreement appreciates Versace at 1.25 billion euros: Capri is forced to take a significant value reduction due to the difficult economic context, with a sputtering luxury market and the protectionist American trade policy. How much Prada will ultimately pay in cash depends on the working capital and the debt position of Versace when the sale is completed. For Prada it is about the biggest purchase in his 112-year history.
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Versace is known for its striking designs. For Prada – known for his more subtle aesthetics – the fashion house means a supplement to its portfolio. Versace will “retain his creative DNA and cultural authenticity,” the group assures.
Since this month, Donatella Versace is no longer the creative director of the fashion house of the same name. She performed that position since 1997, after the murder of her brother Gianni in the United States. Her successor is Dario Vitale, until recently designer responsible at Miu Miu, a daughter of Prada.
Read too.Prada puts more than a billion euros on the table to buy competitor Versace
Both Capri and Prada are listed. The American holding headed at the New York stock exchange on Thursday to more than 12 percent lower. The Italian fashion house has a stock exchange listing in Hong Kong and, as a result of the rumors about the impending announcement of the agreement, already had the wind in the sails: the share was 5 percent higher at the final bell.