Italy's Cavalli wins court approval for sale to Dubai's Damac founder

Italy's troubled fashion house Roberto Cavalli said on Tuesday a court had approved a debt restructuring agreement needed for its sale to Dubai's Vision Investment Company, a group owned by the founder of Damac Properties Group.

Italian private equity firm Clessidra took over 90% of the label from its founder in 2015, in a deal that valued the company at about 390 million euros (£337 million), sources said at the time.

But the new owner was unable to turn around the Italian brand despite appointing a new CEO and a new designer. The group started looking for an investor over a year ago, given that the Clessidra fund holding the Cavalli stake was close to its statutory investment limit, a source had said.

Clessidra and the board of Cavalli chose the Dubai-based company among five other offers. Damac is already a partner of Cavalli in a real estate project in the middle eastern region.