The eyewear by Valentino. The luxury group, which plans to go public by 2017 (but according to some even earlier) leaves the American Marchon and signs with Luxottica, the global eyewear giant headed by Leonardo Del Vecchio.
The ten-year agreement concerns the exclusive license to design, manufacture and distribute in all over the world of collections of sunglasses and eyeglasses under the Valentino brand. It will be operational from January 2017 and the first collection presented as part of the collaboration – reads a note – will be on the market from the beginning of the same year. “We are proud to embark on this beautiful collaboration with Valentino, one of the most admired Italian luxury brands in the world,” said Leonardo Del Vecchio, President of Luxottica. “We share over fifty years of tradition, style and innovation, and of love for our products, the maximum expression of Made in Italy. Together we will create collections that can tell the wonder of Valentino style all over the world, even in eyewear, and we will write a new story of great success".
Valentino's CEO Stefano Sassi he added: “The agreement with Luxottica has a strategic value in the growth process of the Valentino brand. In fact, I believe it is the ideal partner to develop a high-quality project consistent with the values of our Maison, even in the high-end eyewear sector, where we have the ambition to replicate the success of our key product categories such as clothing and accessories.
As for the Valentino IPO process, the Mayhoola fund headed by the Emir of Qatar took over control of Valentino in 2012 from Permira and the Marzotto family, and has now given a mandate to Rothschild to select advisors for the placement on the Milan Stock Exchange. For the company, which was part of the Valentino Fashion Group, it is a return to the past, because Valentino had said goodbye to Piazza Affari in 2007, and therefore ten years ago with respect to the scheduled listing date. In the meantime, the group multiplied its turnover by 5 and went from the red to having excess cash and profits, so much so that in 2015 it had already distributed a dividend for the 2014 financial year.
