BREAKING: Fosun Buys Majority Stake In Struggling French House Lanvin

Lanvin Spring 2018 Ready To Wear.

PARIS, FRANCE — Fosun International has acquired a majority stake in struggling French fashion house Lanvin, the two companies said today Thursday (February 22). This confirms a report in DM Fashion Book on Feb. 5  that the label was reportedly in talks with potential buyers (see it here).

When we published our original story on Feb 5., we reported that Mayhoola Group was one of the several investors they spoke with.

Mayhoola for Investments, the Qatar-based parent of Valentino, Pal Zieri and Balmain had held several rounds of discussions  with majority owner Shaw-Lan Wang, (see it here).

Mayhoola first made overtures to Lanvin in 2016, prior to purchasing Balmain (see it here), but allegedly balked at the price that Wang was asking at the time, said to be somewhere around 500 million euros, or $536.4 million at current exchange.

In breaking news today, we could confirm that Fosun beat Qatari rival Mayhoola Group to win control of the label, which is facing a liquidity crisis.

The Chinese conglomerate has completed a deal to become the majority shareholder in Lanvin.

Fosun, which owns French leisure company Club Med, is the latest Chinese firm to expand into fashion labels at a time when consumers in China — the world’s second biggest economy — are driving a global revival in luxury goods spending.

Lanvin, until now majority-owned by Taiwan-based media magnate Shaw-Lan Wang, had struggled financially in recent years after switching designers.

Fosun gave no financial details of the transaction. It said current shareholders — who include Wang, with 75 percent of the firm, and Swiss businessman Ralph Bartel, who has 25 percent — would retain a minority stake in Lanvin.

The Chinese group will invest around 100 million euros ($123 million) in the business, a source close to the matter said. Fosun added in a statement that with its resources Lanvin would “enter a new phase of expansion.”

Lanvin does not publish earnings. It made an 18.3 million euro loss in 2016, sources with knowledge of the situation had told Reuters. Losses had been forecast to rise to at least 27 million euros in 2017, they said.

Lanvin is France‘s oldest fashion house, and the brand suffered a sales slump ever since Alber Elbaz was shockingly fired in 2015, after 14 years at the house (see it here). His successor was Bouchra Jarrar (see it here). After 15 months and two collections, Jarrar left the troubled house (see it here).

Last July 2017, it was announced that French designer Olivier Lapidus was named Lanvin‘s new artistic director, replacing Jarrar (see it here). He debuted his first, logo-heavy collection for Spring 2018, but it received less-than-stellar reviews. The house’s struggles have also turned interested buyers away, including Kering and Michael Kors Holdings. A WWD source says Kering turned down acquiring Lanvin “because of the high level of investment required to restore the house to financial health.”

Lapidus will showcase his second collection for Fall 2018 at this coming Paris Fashion Week.

Lanvin Spring 2018 Menswear.

Photos Credit: Luca Tombolini / Indigital.tv & Kim Weston Arnold / Indigital.tv