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Roberto Cavalli acquisition by DAMAC needs final court approval
Dubai property development group DAMAC Properties is officially the number one candidate to buy Roberto Cavalli SpA, the Italian luxury label's holding company. The bid to buy a 100% stake in Cavalli by the Dubai property group, made through a subsidiary, Vision Investment, has convinced Cavalli’s current majority shareholder Clessidra, the label and the Milan trade court.
The offer on the table is €160 million, of which €60 million for a share capital increase, and the remaining €100 million to settle with creditors, according to a report by Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24Ore. Cavalli did not wish to confirm the figures when contacted by FashionNetwork.com.
The final stage in the operation is set for August 3 when, according to a press release by Roberto Cavalli SpA, the company will submit a settlement agreement with its commercial creditors for approval by the trade court.
“The process is under the aegis of the Milan court, and there are some steps, which wouldn’t normally be contemplated in a private sale, that need to be agreed with the court itself,” stated Cavalli in the press release.
The industrial plan for Roberto Cavalli presented by Vision Investment will then be assessed by a court-appointed expert and, “once these steps will have been completed, the share transfer will occur,” indicated the press release, presumably by September.
DAMAC Properties has therefore pulled ahead in the race for Cavalli’s acquisition, leaving behind four other contestants, among them Renzo Rosso’s OTB and US group Bluestar Alliance. DAMAC is a leading group listed on the Dubai stock exchange, with a market capitalisation of $4 billion. Last October, DAMAC commissioned to Cavalli the interior design of the first Aykon Hotel built on the Dubai Marina.
Roberto Cavalli is therefore preparing for a new owner. DAMAC is expected to confirm as CEO Gian Giacomo Ferraris, who was tapped by the luxury label to shore up its finances - Cavalli was €33.7 million in the red in 2017 - and reposition it on the luxury segment.
However, Cavalli's employee committee wants further assurances about the relaunch plan, and asked the court to set up a new meeting between the parties on July 24. Union representatives are concerned about the attitude shown by the company, in a meeting held at the Tuscany regional authorities’ office, when asked for clarifications about job protection and the continued operations of Cavalli’s headquarters in Osmannoro, near Florence.
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