Between four days the era of officially begins Luca de Meo like New CEO of the French group Kering, the luxury conglomerate that brings together the most famous brands of the world, including Gucci, Saint Laurent e Bottega VenetaThe new role of the Italian manager is considered a turning point in the Kering world: before of Meo the only one to have the executive reins of the company has always been François-Henri Pinault, currently in office as president of the group. Since 2005, Pinault has always held both positions: that of Ceo be that of president.
De Meo now has the task of restart the group's companies, especially with regard to the cash registers GucciIn the first half of 2024, the Florence-based fashion house had recorded a 20% drop in sales, equal to approximately 1 billion euro, and as reported Bloomberg The trend currently shows no signs of improvement: even more recent data have signaled a negative result for the company. Here are the changes de Meo intends to make in Kering House, as communicated yesterday to shareholders and investors in Paris during the group's general meeting.
Kering, de Meo: Decisions will have to be made, sometimes difficult ones.
DeMeo He has already put his hands up, in Paris, looking the shareholders in the eye, but also catching the open ears of all the group's employees when he stated: "The current situation strengthens our determination to act without delay. This will require clear and strong choices“. Decisions that he seems to understand will not be easy, far from it, and de Meo has in fact declared: “We will have to continue to reduce our debt and, where necessary, rationalize, reorganize, and reposition some of our brands”. All the choices are part of a plan, which – the CEO announced – will be released in spring of the 2026 and will be the result of the work carried out with the various teams. Then, once ready, it will be presented to investors. He confirmed, however, that, if necessary, certain difficult choices they will still be taken by the end of this year.
De Meo has the opportunity to adapt his capacity e ability derived from his experiences in the automotive sector, to those of luxury. A sector where one of the main ingredients is the creativity. Bloomberg It highlights this aspect in light of the need for debt reduction at Kering. The American agency emphasizes how de Meo must now balance debt reduction efforts with something as difficult to quantify as creativity.
The Italian manager to lower theloan burden will have few choices to make and, as he himself stated during the meeting, they will have to be taken into consideration cost cuts.
The agreement with Mayhoola and the reorganization of Valentino
Among De Meo's priorities is also the management of the dossier ValentinoThe French group and the Qatari fund Mayhoola, which controls the maison, have recently Shareholders' Agreement updated entered into in 2023. The put options on the remaining 70% stake held by Mayhoola, initially exercisable in 2026 and 2027, have been postponed to 2028 and 2029 respectively. At the same time, thepurchase option Kering's (call) on Mayhoola's stake, originally scheduled for 2028, was postponed to 2029In practice, Valentino's current ownership structure will remain unchanged until at least 2028, allowing the CEO to focus first on the group's operational and financial priorities.
Mayhoola for Investments is a Qatari sovereign wealth fund specializing in luxury and fashion investments. Its current portfolio includes, in addition to Valentino, the French luxury fashion house Balmain and the Italian luxury brand Pal Zileri.
Last updated: Thursday, September 11, 2025, at 9:30 AM
