DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Pinault’s Hollywood foray is untimely distraction
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Charles Platiau Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The story of European business trying to mingle with Hollywood has often led to unhappy endings. The Pinault family, which controls $61 billion luxury group Kering (PRTP.PA), thinks it can buck the trend. Pinault may have overpaid for CAA, especially in the middle of a major strike of Hollywood writers and actors. The transaction, through holding company Artemis, adds Hollywood's premiere talent agency to Pinault’s family empire which spans fashion, wine and contemporary art. CAA was valued at $1.1 billion when TPG acquired a majority stake in 2014, four years after having originally invested in the talent agency.

Persons: Francois, Henri Pinault, Kering, Charles Platiau, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, François, Ari Emanuel’s, Artemis ’, Gucci, Alessandro Michele, Pinault, Jean, Kering’s, Valentino, Brad Pitt, Salma Hayek, Lisa Jucca, Streisand Neto Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Hollywood, Universal Studios, Creative Artists Agency, CAA, Gucci, TPG, Endeavor, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, bask

Putting a price on celebrityIn buying a majority stake in the powerhouse Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency, François-Henri Pinault showed that high-ticket M.&A. is a game that more than one French luxury billionaire can play. Acquiring CAA — which represents stars including Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie and Pinault’s wife, Salma Hayek Pinault — underscores Pinault’s ambitions, and reinforces the growing importance of celebrity in the luxury sector. Like his archrival, Bernard Arnault of LVMH, Pinault used a series of acquisitions to assemble the luxury empire now known as Kering, starting with Gucci and later adding Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and more. The agency will be run separately from Kering; Bryan Lourd, the superagent who represents Scarlett Johansson and Brad Pitt, will become C.E.O.

Persons: Henri Pinault, Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Pinault’s, Salma Hayek Pinault, Bernard Arnault, Pinault, Saint, Bottega, Alexander McQueen, —, Bryan Lourd, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Pitt Organizations: Hollywood, Creative Artists Agency, CAA, Gucci, Puma Locations: Bottega Veneta, Kering

In a deal that shows the ever-growing convergence of fashion and fame, François-Henri Pinault, the French billionaire and chief executive of the luxury goods company Kering, said on Thursday that his family office had bought a majority stake in one of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies, Creative Artists Agency. Mr. Pinault’s family office, Artémis, already has investments that include the auction house Christie’s and a stake in Puma, and like them, CAA will be managed separately from Kering, which owns such brands as Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga. The announcement comes as talent — actors, singers, filmmakers — has become a uniquely powerful tool in selling products. There is now a growing race among fashion brands to lock in relationships with the next big name. “There’s no separation between fashion and entertainment any more,” said Robert Burke, the eponymous founder of a luxury consultancy, calling the deal a “natural, if unprecedented, evolution.”

Persons: Henri Pinault, Pinault’s, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, —, “, ”, Robert Burke Organizations: Creative Artists Agency, Mr, Puma, CAA, Gucci Locations: Kering

☆ Kering dons Valentino scent to ease Gucci malaise
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Adding the maker of pricey Rockstud bags could help it reduce its dependency on tottering star brand Gucci. Kering’s stake purchase values the whole brand at 5.7 billion euros, or 16 times its EBITDA of 350 million euros last year. Kering will pay 1.7 billion euros for the stake in cash. Valentino had revenue of 1.4 billion euros and a recurring EBITDA of 350 million euros in 2022. Kering’s star brand Gucci rose just 1% on an organic basis.

Persons: Henri Pinault, Valentino, Gucci, Valentino Garavani, LVMH, Sabato De Sarno, Alessandro Michele, Marco Bizzarri, Kering, George Hay, Streisand Neto, Oliver Taslic Organizations: MILAN, Reuters, Thomson

☆ New Gucci designer has big sneakers to fill
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Jan 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Gucci’s new creative head Sabato De Sarno is stepping onto a wobbly catwalk. François-Henri Pinault’s conglomerate Kering (PRTP.PA) on Saturday picked the 39-year-old from smaller fashion house Valentino to lead its biggest brand and succeed star designer Alessandro Michele, who left abruptly in November. Michele’s daring designs, which he applied lavishly on anything from shirts to sneakers, helped Gucci sales shoot up to nearly 10 billion euros in 2019. But at around 10.5 billion euros in 2022, Gucci sales are expected to have risen only 10% since then. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Gucci designer’s exit boosts Kering’s M&A urgency
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MILAN, Nov 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The abrupt departure of star Gucci designer Alessandro Michele on Wednesday is putting French luxury boss François-Henri Pinault on the spot. The Italian brand, Kering’s (PRTP.PA) largest, has been a money-spinner for the 68 billion euro French conglomerate. Gucci revenue nearly trebled to 9.6 billion euros between 2014 and 2019. Reuters GraphicsFollow @LJucca on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSKering’s top brand Gucci said on Nov. 23 Creative Director Alessandro Michele had stepped down. Under Michele’s creative leadership, Gucci sales grew nearly three times from 2014 to 9.6 billion euros in 2019, one of the best performing brands in the luxury world.

Search resuls for: "Pinault’s"

6 mentions found