Can Gucci glister be turned into gold?
Serge Weinberg, the suave chief executive of French retailer Pinault Printemps Redoute, will shortly write a cheque for up to $2.8 billion to take full control of fashion house Gucci. Under shareholder rules, PPR must buy the 32 per cent of Gucci it doesn’t already own on or about April Fool’s day – arguably, an inauspicious date to do business. But will Weinberg and his boss, PPR founder Francois Pinault, be getting a bargain? Or will they looklike April fools for shelling out too much for Gucci? The business embraces emerging designer brands bought by Gucci when valuations were glitzy and LVMH was snapping at its heels. The price PPR will pay was agreed after it won a power struggle with LVMH, headed by Bernard Arnault. Weinberg will have his work cut out sorting out the baggage in Gucci. The fallen dollar and strong euro are hitting the European luxury sector hard. All the same, Weinberg insists the ‘start-ups’ in Gucci’s mixed bag are all potential global brands. He talks of ‘passi
