BREAKING: Qatari investment fund Mayhoola, owner of Italian fashion house Valentino, Balmain and Pal Zileri; and Chinese Fosun, a conglomerate behind French Club Med which made news end 2017 for its bid for Swiss luxury leather goods maker, Bally; are both in a battle to acquire majority stakes in French fashion couturier Lanvin.

Lanvin acquisition Battle between Qatari Mayhoola and Chinese Fosun

French multinational high fashion house Lanvin was founded by Jeanne Lanvin in 1889 and it is France’s oldest surviving couture house. In 1990, Lanvin was acquired by the Orcofi Group and then by L’Oréal six years later. In 2001, Taiwanese media magnate Shaw-Lan Wang took Lanvin private once more where it enjoyed a revival under design direction of Alber Elbaz.

Designer Alber Elbaz oversaw one of Lanvin’s most popular periods

Lanvin’s time in the spotlight lasted till Elbaz’s forced departure sent the French fashion house into a revenue slump and appointment of Bouchra Jarrar as Creative Director for Women’s Collection in March 2016 did little to solve the company’s woes, leaving Lanvin facing severe cash flow issues end 2017. Lanvin took an 18.3 million euro loss in 2016 and had been forecast (the company is private, thus is not required to publish profit and loss statements) to lose up to 27 million euros amidst plummeting sales, when Wang’s proposed cash injection by end 2017 never took place, Lanvin began to look ripe for acquisition.

Qatari Mayhoola and Chinese Fosun are both vying for Lanvin. Fosun recently lost their bid for Bally to Chinese textile giant Shandong Ruyi Group and so it’s understandable why they’re trying for another luxury brand. A Reuters source had informed the news outlet that a team from the Chinese group was due to visit Lanvin’s couture ateliers in Paris on Saturday.

One of Elbaz’s acclaimed collections and his sudden sacking was followed by two years of lacklustre performance

Mayhoola, bought French luxury fashion firm Balmain in 2016, and holds 100% stakes in Pal Zileri and Valentino fashion group, of the two suitors, Mayhoola looks better placed from brand management perspective. In 2014, Qatari Mayhoola offered Wang 400 million euros for Lanvin but was rejected. Chinese Fosun on the other hand, has a wide range of investments across multiple industries but is weaker in the luxury fashion segment.

Speaking in December 2017, Lanvin Managing Director Nicolas Druz intimated that a “sustained financial and industrial solutions that do not involve a capital increase will be found by end of March”.

Source: Reuters, South China Morning Post