Versace has been sold

Update: the sale has now been finalized to Michael Kors for $2.12 billion, Donatella Versace will still stay on and still run the company.

There is restructuring in sight at Versace, meetings are currently being held to sell the brand and though the buyer is still to be locked in, the sale is all but finalized. The frontrunner at the moment is an American group headed by the stylist Michael Kors, followed by Coach, whose name was recently changed to Tapestry to underline its evolution as a brand accessible to the conglomerate of luxury. But other American groups, like Tiffany, are also currently looking at a possible acquisition.

Also, the French power group Kering with brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga, are examining the sale,  and even large private equity funds could be ready for acquisition. Kering group has been the favorite for a long time, but with their current offer of just over a billion euro, the American groups could take over with the desired evaluation from the Versace family being close to 2 billion euro. 

The sale reflects a general revamping at Versace that has also been pushing to expand it youthful demographic with its Versus sub-brand and a strong focus on sneaker design with the employment of Salehe Bembury. The fashion house is currently the largest shareholder of Givi holding, with the brothers Santo and Donatella Versace and Allegra, daughter of Donatella, with 80% of the shares, while the remaining share, 20%, is from the Blackstone fund, which aims to exit the investment midterm after the sale. 

With things being stirred up at Versace both on a design, and now corporate level, a very interesting time lies ahead for the brand which is currently evolving for a new age.