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Fashion giant Prada Group on Thursday announced its plans to buy Italy's Versace from US-based luxury brand Capri Holdings in a deal worth €1.25 billion (Rs. 125 crores), subject to “adjustments at closing”, which includes regulatory approval, according to a press release dated April 10.
Prada declared that the Milan-origin brand had a “highly recognisable aesthetic [that] constitutes a strongly complementary addition to the Prada Group’s portfolio and displays significant untapped growth potential leveraging multiple value creation levers”.
The group, which owns the Prada and Miu Miu brands along with luxury footwear manufacturer Church’s, reported a 17% boost in revenues to €5.4 billion in 2024 from €4.7 billion in 2023, according to the Associated Press. Retail sales rose 18% to €4.6 billion in this period.
The deal, set to be completed in the second half of 2025, is expected to redistribute the balance of power in global high-street fashion, and increase shareholder investment in the new Prada Group. The transaction will be funded by €1.5 billion of new debt, Prada explained.
This bold move comes despite the ongoing trade tensions emerging out of the Trump tariffs, whose impact had dented Capri Holdings' valuation, causing it to now sell the company that they had acquired for 1.83 billion in 2018.
Despite a marked difference in aesthetics, the fashion conglomerate explained that Versace would continue to maintain its “creative DNA and cultural authenticity”, while also “benefiting from the full strength of the Group’s consolidated platform”.
“We are delighted to welcome Versace to the Prada Group and to build a new chapter for a brand with which we share a strong commitment to creativity, craftmanship and heritage,” said Prada Group chairman and executive director Patrizio Bertelli.
