Richemont Seals Deal to Sell Pursemaker Lancel to Piquadro

(Bloomberg) -- Richemont agreed to sell ailing French pursemaker Lancel to Italy’s Piquadro SpA, a rare divestment as the Swiss luxury-goods maker sheds a business that has been holding back its growth in fashion and accessories.

Richemont completed the sale on June 2 and the transaction won’t materially impact the company’s balance sheet or cash flow, Richemont said in a statement Monday, without disclosing financial details.

The disposal comes more than a decade after Richemont bought the Paris-based brand for 342 million Swiss francs ($346 million). The leather-goods maker had been grappling with weak consumer spending in its largest market, France, in recent years. Richemont had considered selling the brand in 2013 and hired Nomura Holdings Inc. to find a buyer, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

Lancel had sales of about 53 million euros ($62 million) and lost 23 million euros before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the year ended March 31, Piquadro said in a separate statement. Richemont will receive a share of Lancel’s earnings in the following 10 years, though the amount will be capped at 35 million euros, Piquadro also said.

The sale follows several acquisitions including the buyout of online fashion retailer Yoox Net-A-Porter Group SpA and a stake in duty-free operator Dufry AG. Last week, Richemont announced the purchase of Watchfinder.co.uk Ltd., an Internet-based seller of second-hand timepieces.

Last year, Richemont sold Shanghai Tang, a Hong Kong-based dressmaker, its first disposal of a luxury unit since 2007.

Mediobanca advised Piquadro.

To contact the reporter on this story: Corinne Gretler in Zurich at cgretler1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Thomas Mulier, Marthe Fourcade

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