M&A fever inflames fashion

«During the first six months of 2022 the fashion acquisition market has been very effervescent. For the second half of the year, we expect M&A activity in the fashion sector to be just as strong». Speaking to MFF is Emanuela Pettenò, markets deals leader & consumer markets leader at PwC Italy. With the start of the new round of fashion weeks, the expert drew a picture of what has happened so far and the deals that could instead inflame this financial September.

Based on market rumors, the analyst pointed out, there are potential trials on global brands such as Tom Ford, Isabel Marant, Sézane and Ganni, as well as on the british chain FatFace. At the Italian market level, on the other hand, the main rumors of M&A deals concern both iconic brands, such as Valentino, Giorgio Armani or Salvatore Ferragamo, and companies in the handbag, footwear and accessories sectors, negatively impacted by Covid-19-related dynamics, but on the upswing.

«Certainly, in addition to the brands already mentioned, the spotlight will be on the announced IPO of Lanvin Group (formerly Fosun Fashion Group, ed.), an aggregator of luxury brands whose growth has been strongly accelerated with the acquisition of Sergio Rossi during 2021», Pettenò explained. However, the spotlight will also be on the M&A activity of multibrand online platforms such as Vestiaire Collective, which acquired Tradesy in march, Farfetch, which invested in Neiman Marcus, and Yoox Net-A-Porter, on which there is speculation of a possible —at least partial— exit by Richemont. «We expect increasing M&A activity on manufacturing and accessories platforms, with Florence group among the most active, and acquisitions of craft skills by big luxury brands», she added.

It is not a coincidence that Remo Ruffini’s Moncler recently announced its plans to start investing in the shoemaking sector. Looking at already finalized deals, PwC’s analyst continued saying that the first half-year had saw 280 announced operations on a global level, compared to the 320 of the first half-year in 2021, 25 of which in the Italian market (28 in the same period of 2021). The majority of these transactions, 15 out of 25, concerned industrial mergers while only 10 of them were carried out by institutional investors.

Among the main operations of the period in the Italian market, the expert highlights the acquisition within the private equity channel of Dainese by Carlyle, Florence Group’s add-ons, which acquired Facopel (hat production), Frediani (patternmaking and tailoring) and Barbetta (design and production of jersey fabrics), as well as the investment in Brums (children’s clothing) by Go global retail. Meanwhile, the most significant transactions carried out by strategic investors include the acquisition of Save The Duck by L’Occitane Group, the acquisition of textile company Cariaggi Lanificio by Brunello Cucinelli and Tollegno 1900’s wool spinning branch by Indorama. Last but not least, among the operations announced between June and July, the acquisition of retailer Coin and Les Copains by Ovs, the purchase of Sergio Tacchini by Korean brand F&F and Scarpe&Scarpe by Pillarstone. At the same time, Philipp Plein rose to 100% of Billionaire. (All rights reserved)