Reuters insisting on rumours, get the first scoop. Reportedly, in the last few months Ferruccio Ferragamo has been considering the option to sell off 20% of the fashion brand’s shares. Apparently, then, he has been planning to welcome in the company a wealthy minority business partner, possibly a private equity fund or a sovereign fund, in order to financially support an anti-Coronavirus plan and work out a few internal issues. As reported by the same press agency, Mr Ferragamo has firmly denied such rumours, once again, while forcedly juggling, in the usual, long-lasting roundabout, between alleged divestiture plans and subsequent denials.
Insisting on rumours
Well, such is the scenario depicted by Reuters based on a few rumours picked by some players actively involved in the sequence of events. In September, Ferruccio Ferragamo allegedly decided to sell off 20% of the company controlling the brand. Yet, apparently, the deal never went beyond a preliminary stage. The chief owner of the Italian fashion brand made his move to assess the market feedback; besides that, he well knew that not all minority business partners would agree on his decision. “They worked on the deal for a couple of months – reported the press agency –, focusing both on private equity funds and sovereign funds”. Should the company divest some stakes, like we said earlier, they could benefit from new capital assets to cope with cashflow emergency. Finally, yet importantly, they might work out a few internal issues by paying off some of their minority business partners. When rumours became public, corporate shares gained some points at the Stock Exchange Market.
Ferragamo’s response
The response given by Ferruccio Ferragamo (in the Imagoeconomica picture, right) is the usual one: “He categorically denies”, reported Reuters. In other words, he firmly denied such rumours. It turns out be the “usual” response because it is not the first time Salvatore’s son has been involved in a situation like that. On the contrary, less than a month ago, at the end of September, the brand’s top managers first denied Citigroup rumours: “We have what it takes to play it stand alone”, pointed out Chief Executive Officer Micaela Le Divelec. “I have not seen any M&A move: I rather believe that operations formerly started (hinting at the maxi deal involving LVMH and Tiffany, editor’s note) are seemingly about to fall through”, also remarked vice-president Michele Norsa. The story is to be continued, that is for sure.
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