MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's VTB Capital investment bank is in talks with Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli about buying its controlling stake, business daily Vedomosti wrote Tuesday, citing a source at VTB Group and a person familiar with the fashion brand's top managers.
The deal may amount to 500 million euros ($667.5 million) according to the publication Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). The total cost of the fashion house, owned by designer Roberto Cavalli, is estimated at 830 million euros ($1.1 billion).
Cavalli has been looking for an investor for more than five years. In May, The Financial Times said the designer was discussing the sale of the controlling stake with an investment company Investcorp.
Before that, he held talks with European equity firm Permira but failed to agree on the management strategy. The same reason ended Cavalli's discussion with other potential buyers, including private equity fund Clessidra in 2009.
The designer himself mentioned he was in talks with VTB Capital, an arm of Russia's second largest lender VTB, last week.
According to WWD, Cavalli is particularly concerned about the role his wife Eva, who helps him in the label's creative process, will have in the company once a new shareholder steps in.
VTB Group fell under US and EU sanctions imposed on Russia in late July, and can no longer borrow from investors in the United States or the European Union for more than 90 days.
VTB Capital has not invested in fashion so far. The bank holds shares in restaurant chain Burger King, food retailer Lenta and fitness clubs World Class and Fizcult.
