Following the example of his fellow Italian brand Valentino, which is now owned by Qatar Holding LLC, Roberto Cavalli is seeking support from the Middle East and has reportedly approached the Bahrain-based investment group Investcorp as a potential buyer for a stake in his company.
According to an Investcorp source close to Reuters, Cavalli eyed the Bahraini investment group after talks failed last month with the private equity firm Permira, which was close to buying a majority stake, but retracted its bid when Cavalli did not want to meet the firm’s demands on succession planning and management.
Inverstcorp has already expressed its interest in Italian luxury fashion brands before, having owned Gucci in the past. “We’ve been approached by Cavalli as they believe we would be a credible buyer,” a source at Bahrain-based Investcorp told Reuters, adding that the investment firm has put a potential value of 450 million Euros (AED/SAR 2.25 billion) on Cavalli’s company.
However, according to the source, talks between Cavalli and Investcorp are still at an early stage and an official deal hasn’t been closed yet, as Investcorp has yet to carry out in-depth analysis of the Roberto Cavalli brand.
