Clessidra in exclusive talks to buy Roberto Cavalli

The company's founder Roberto Cavalli and the Italian GP are aiming to reach an agreement by March 2015.

Under the terms of any agreement, Roberto Cavalli would retain a stake in the company and support its management team in a relaunch and development project. Clessidra vice president Francesco Trapani would take over as president of the fashion business.

In June 2009, Roberto Cavalli signed a letter of intent to sell a 30% stake in the firm to Clessidra. However, discussions ground to a halt in August 2009 due to pricing disagreements. Estimates at the time speculated that the deal could be valued at €100m, putting the enterprise value at approximately €300m (around 9x EBITDA) – a significant discount from what the designer had initially quoted as asking price.

The fashion house has been courting potential buyers over the past year. In April 2014, media reports stated Permira had entered advanced talks to buy a majority stake for €450m. Reports then surfaced stating VTB Capital, the investment arm of Russian lender VTB Bank, was in talks to buy 60% of the business for up to €500m, valuing the firm at more than 20x EBITDA.

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• Southern Europe
• Italy
• Clessidra Capital Partners