Italian investment fund Clessidra withdraws from Harmont & Blaine

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jul 14, 2022

Change of shareholders for Harmont & Blaine. Italian investment fund Clessidra Private Equity SGR, owned by the Pesenti family’s holding company, which became a shareholder in the Italian casual-chic label in 2014, has withdrawn. After eight years, Clessidra has sold its 40% stake to Bassotto 2.0, an investment vehicle pooling together a group of private investors led by Riccardo Bruno, a former partner at Clessidra.
 

The value of the transaction has not been disclosed. “With this sale, we have completed our investment process aimed at developing and internationalising the brand,” said Marco Carotenuto, managing director of Clessidra, which in the past has invested with varying degrees of success also in Roberto Cavalli and jewellery brand Buccellati.
 
When Clessidra bought a stake in Harmont & Blaine, the Naples-based company, active in mid-market ready-to-wear for men, women and children, had recorded a revenue of €71 million for 2013. The figure rose to €94 million in 2019, according to the latest publicly available data.

Harmont & Blaine currently operates 81 monobrand stores and 75 concessions, and is also distributed via over 450 multibrand retailers worldwide. The label had set its sights on a major internationalisation drive, but had to downgrade its objectives, especially owing to the pandemic, and also shelved plans for a stock market listing.
 
The arrival of new shareholders means also a new management team. Riccardo Bruno is taking over as president in lieu of Paolo Montefusco. The latter is the label's long-standing designer, as well as one its founders, with a 60% stake in the company, alongside his brother Massimo Montefusco and siblings Domenico and Enzo Menniti. Paolo Montefusco is Harmont & Blaine’s new managing director, a position he had held ad interim from 2016 to 2020. He succeeds Marco Pirone.
 
“The new shareholders’ goal is to sustain the growth of the brand, driven by the new ‘feel-good everyday style’ slogan, and to continue to enhance the label by being mindful of its roots while looking towards the future,” said Harmont & Blaine.