Valentino label sold for £476m

Luxury Italian fashion house Valentino is being sold to an unidentified sovereign wealth fund for €600m (£476m).

BY Helia Ebrahimi | 09 July 2012

Valentino haute couture autumn/winter 2012 Photo: Vladimir Potop

The sale comes five years after Valentino was bought by London-based private equity firm, Permira, at the height of the credit bubble together with Hugo Boss, in a holding company called Red & Black.

The fashion house had a tumultuous five years but has once again become widely praised in fashion circles, winning acclaim for shows at Paris Haute Couture Week and its ready-to-wear collections. It is a staple of the Oscars and is worn by stars Florence Welch, Alexa Chung and Keira Knightley.

READ: Why Valentino is the game changer of couture

The current deal, which will separate the Valentino brand from Hugo Boss, will see the design house sold to one of Permira's investors. The sovereign wealth fund has not been identified.

In 2011, Valentino had sales of €322.4m, up 20 per cent from the previous year and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of €22.2m, up 300 per cent on the previous year.

IN PICTURES: See the Valentino autumn/winter 2012 haute couture show

The company is thought to trade on a multiple similar to that of other luxury goods houses, which can sometimes be valued as high as 30 times earnings. The high ticket price Permira has achieved is expected to please investors, just as the buy-out group works on raising a new €6bn fund.

However, Valentino has not always been so easy to manage for the London-based buy-out group. Bought in 2007, the €3.4bn investment soon faced problems, from the aftermath of its founder Valentino Garavani's departure to the sustainability of the €2.3bn of debt attached to the deal.

The chief executive, Stefano Sassi, brought in designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, who together have rekindled a Valentino renaissance. Mr Sassi has also been working on pushing the brand into Asia.