Sapinda buys lingerie firm La Perla after Fosun talks stumble

Cosmo Lady (China) Holdings Co

26/02/2018 13:32

* Investment firm Sapinda buys La Perla for undisclosed sum 
    * China's Fosun had looked to buy brand but talks foundered 
    * Fosun had wanted to move production out of Europe, sources 
say 
 
    By Giulia Segreti 
    MILAN, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Investment firm Sapinda Holdings 
said on Monday it had acquired Italian luxury-lingerie maker La 
Perla, after a disagreement over moving production out of Europe 
derailed acquisition talks with China's Fosun  0656.HK , 
according to two sources.  
    Conglomerate Fosun, which recently snapped up Parisian 
fashion label Lanvin, had entered exclusive talks to buy the 
brand last December  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nI6N1O7017. 
    But negotiations stalled because the Chinese group wanted to 
move production of La Perla's lacy underwear to China, two 
sources with knowledge of the discussions said.  
    "The one-month exclusive talks with Fosun ended in 
mid-January. The negotiations went on for some more but in the 
end failed," one of the sources said. 
    Talks with Sapinda, a vehicle co-founded by German 
entrepreneur Lars Windhorst, began shortly afterwards, the 
source said, and the group had pledged to keep manufacturing in 
Italy and in Portugal, where the group has a plant that employs 
300 people.  
    Fosun, which also owns French leisure group Club Med and has 
a stake in Chinese underwear-maker Cosmo Lady  2298.HK , could 
not immediately be reached for comment.  
    Sapinda, which has offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, London and 
Hong Kong and investments ranging from real estate to 
agriculture, did not disclose any financial details of the 
acquisition.  
    Italian entrepreneur Silvio Scaglia, founder of telecoms 
group Fastweb, has owned La Perla, whose bras sometimes fetch 
more than $600, since 2013.  
    He bought the struggling group for 69 million euros ($81 
million) at a court-led auction, through family holding Pacific 
Global Management, and invested over 300 million euros in the 
brand to fund an expansion into Asia and elsewhere.  
    "I know that Sapinda has the necessary resources to take La 
Perla to the next level and continue my vision of building a 
global luxury brand, but keeping production in Europe," Scaglia 
said in a statement.  
    Sapinda's Windhorst said the firm was "prepared to further 
invest" in La Perla.  
    Headquartered in London, the brand was founded in 1954 in 
the northern Italian town of Bologna, known for its silk 
industry. Besides lingerie, the company makes nightwear, 
beachwear and ready-to-wear clothing.     
    The group generated sales of 140 million euros in 2017 and 
is expected to break even by the end of 2018, Scaglia said in a 
recent interview to Forbes. 
     
($1 = 0.8111 euros) 
 
 (Writing by Sarah White, editing by Larry King) 
 ((mailto:sarah.white1@thomsonreuters.com; + 33)(0)(1 49 49 56 
85;)) 
 
Keywords: LAPERLA M&A/SAPINDA