Italian fashion house Prada announced today that it has reached a "definitive agreement" with the American group Capri Holdings to take over 100 percent of the famous Versace brand for 1,25 billion euros.
The merger of two world-renowned brands will create an Italian luxury group with a turnover of more than six billion euros, which will eventually be able to compete with industry giants such as LVMH and Kering.
"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, craftsmanship and heritage," said Chairman and CEO Patrizio Bertelli.
The deal goes against the trend of recent years, as big names in Italian fashion such as Gucci, Fendi and Bottega Veneta have been taken over by their French competitors.
Kapri Holdings, which acquired Versace in 2018 for 1,83 billion euros, had to accept a significant discount in the economic context of the crisis in the luxury market and increasing US tariffs.
At the time, the fashion house was 80 percent owned by the Versace family and 20 percent by the American fund BlackRock.
After long weeks of negotiations, Prada took action, despite the turbulence caused in the markets by the avalanche of tariff increases announced by the President of the United States of America (US) Donald Trump.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.
The Versace fashion house, founded in 1978 by designer Gianni Versace and his brother Santo, became very famous for its jet-set clothing.
Donatella Versace, who took over the fashion house's creations in 1997 after the murder of her brother Gianni, stepped down on April 1st.
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