Such a big number extinguished interest from most potential strategic buyers, including Tapestry, save for Kors, which pulled out a bigger checkbook and pursued exclusive negotiations in recent weeks, the source said. It is understood that Kering was among the first to submit an offer a few hundred million euros shy of 2 billion euros. According to one source, Donatella Versace herself made overtures to potential investors since the spring, rather than pursue a formal process via investment banks.
“It’s there for us to use so we can make sizable acquisitions even on our existing financing structure, not having to even go to the debt market if we don’t need to,” Idol said.Ī Kors deal for Versace will bring to an end what has been feverish pursuit of the brand over the last few months. It also has a $1 billion revolving credit facility, which the ceo pointed to as a potential source of deal capital. Last year, when discussing the desire for acquisitions, Idol said Kors produces cash flow of close to $1 billion a year that can help pay down any debt. While analysts expressed concern that Kors overpaid for Choo, the chief executive officer noted that having the two together under one umbrella helped the firm diversify from a brand and product standpoint, as well as geographically with greater exposure in Asia and Europe. Our focus is on international fashion luxury that are industry leaders.” It’s a company that needs to have additional resources to grow more quickly.” He said, “We are creating a global luxury fashion group. A third move was to fund the quickly growing men’s business.Īt the time, Idol emphasized that Choo “doesn’t need to be reengineered. It also looked to broaden Choo’s accessories offering, expanding beyond smaller evening bags. Much of that expansion would take place in Asia. At that time, Idol said the plan was to grow Choo’s store base to a range of 200 to 250 doors, up from the roughly 150 locations it had at the time of the acquisition. Last year, Kors acquired Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion and started prepping it for ambitious growth. He also signaled his desire to become a portfolio of brands. Several years later, when Kors experienced a slowdown in handbags in the North American market, saturation and overexpansion (eventually closing stores and pulling back on wholesale), Idol set his sights on such areas of growth as e-commerce, men’s, Europe, Asia and watches. At the time, IPO investment adviser Renaissance Capital said it was the largest fashion IPO since the firm started collecting data in 1995. All of the IPO proceeds went to designer Michael Kors and other selling shareholders, including Chou, Stroll and Idol. The initial public offering raised $944 million. The company went public in 2011, with shares opening at $25, up 25 percent from their $20 offering price, and closed at $24.20. Over time, the bulk of Kors’ business was generated by shoes, bags, eyewear and watches. The luxury space was crowded with brands such as Prada and Louis Vuitton, and Kors saw opportunity for a secondary line that could compete with Coach, Kate Spade and Marc Jacobs. While Kors had his initial success designing apparel, the new team saw white space in accessible luxury accessories, which became a windfall for the brand. Stroll and Chou are no longer investors in Kors and aren’t involved in a potential Versace deal. Today, Kors has a market cap of $10.04 billion. In 2004, Kors was a $20 million business and was losing money. Idol, along with Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll, acquired Kors in 2003, they looked to expand the brand, which had a “cult following,” to a global and multinational clientele. If Kors follows a similar playbook, it is believed the company will want to build up the accessories portion of the Versace brand, similar to what management has done with the Kors brand.
Known for its glamorous gowns and bold printed designs, Versace posted revenue of 686 million euros in 2016 and returned to profitability in 2017.
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