Prada rules out Armani stake as it directs cash at Versace turnround

Prada Group has ruled out joining Armani's ownership process, CEO Guerra told Reuters, with capital and management attention directed instead at the turnround of Versace. The Italian group is not bidding for the 15% stake in Armani that the founder's heirs are preparing to sell.

The succession plan follows the death of Giorgio Armani in September 2025 at 91. His will obliges the heirs to sell that first 15% within 18 months of his death, which points to March 2027, though weak luxury demand has reportedly slowed preparations and could push the sale later.

Armani is the Italian luxury house Giorgio Armani founded in 1975, spanning clothing, accessories, fragrances and home decor. The preferred candidates for the stake are reported to be LVMH and Armani's two commercial partners, L'Oréal and EssilorLuxottica, with talk of an equal allocation giving each business 5%.

L'Oréal holds Armani's beauty licence until 2050, while EssilorLuxottica manages its eyewear. Beyond the first tranche, the heirs must sell a further stake of between 30% and 54.9% within three to five years, which would transfer control, with a flotation as the alternative route.

Armani's chief executive, Giuseppe Marsocci, was appointed in October 2026 and is reported to be preparing a five-year business plan ahead of advisers being appointed to oversee the potential stake sale. Prada's decision removes one potential Italian bidder from the process.

The attention Prada is instead giving to Versace reflects the scale of the deal it completed in December 2025, paying $1.375 billion in cash, about £1.06 billion, to acquire the house from Capri Holdings. The purchase returned the Milanese label to Italian ownership.

Versace is the Italian house Gianni Versace founded in 1978, known for maximalist glamour. It joined a portfolio led by Prada and Miu Miu, and the group is reshaping the business to prioritise higher-quality product sold at full price, focusing on store operations, client relationships and organisational integration.

We have tracked how Versace changed hands three times in seven years, passing from the founding family to Capri Holdings and then, in December 2025, to Prada. We recorded the price at about €1.25 billion, roughly 40% below what Capri paid in 2018, reuniting two Milanese houses under one family-controlled group.

In our look at the brands behind the group, we noted the Bertelli-Prada family had kept the portfolio to five brands for over two decades, and that Versace was Prada's first major purchase in 25 years. The acquisition was the first big addition to a group where Miu Miu's retail sales jumped 93.2% in 2024.

The turnround is showing up in revenue. In April's results, Prada reported Versace contributed €143 million to first-quarter net revenue, rising to €305 million for the first half, with the group saying Versace was progressing in line with expectations.

Across the whole group, net revenue grew 16% over the first six months to €3.048 billion, and retail sales climbed 12% to €2.633 billion. The Versace figure is one visible measure of whether the reshaping Prada has described is translating into sales at full price.

A creative reset at Versace

Alongside the new ownership, Versace has reset its creative leadership. Pieter Mulier, formerly creative director at Alaïa, took over as chief creative officer on 1 July, replacing Dario Vitale, who left soon after the acquisition closed. Mulier is the brand's third creative leader in under a year.

Mulier's arrival also followed the June departure of Versace's chief executive, Emmanuel Gintzburger, with no replacement announced so far. Donatella Versace had already moved away from design in March 2025, taking the title of chief brand ambassador.

We reported on that shift when we covered Donatella Versace's move to launch a new fashion and beauty label, and our reference coverage of Capri Holdings records how the American owner agreed in April 2025 to sell Versace for $1.38 billion, having acquired it for $2.1 billion in 2018.

Capri, formerly Michael Kors Holdings, had bet on a founder-led portfolio of Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, but the $8.5 billion Capri-Tapestry merger collapsed in November 2024 after the US FTC blocked it. Prada's purchase left Capri a two-brand company.

What comes next for the stake

With Prada out, the field narrows to LVMH, L'Oréal and EssilorLuxottica. We have covered how Giorgio Armani's will named those three as the buyers he wanted, and reported that talks on the stake were moving.

No advisers have yet been appointed, and Marsocci's five-year plan is meant to come first. The timing of the first sale will depend on whether luxury demand recovers enough to restart preparations that have so far been slowed.

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Image: Prada