QuattroR investment fund acquires majority stake in Italian label Trussardi

After months of intense negotiations, the Trussardi family has sold a majority stake in the eponymous fashion label to QuattroR, an Italian investment fund specialised in “restructuring and relaunching Italian SMEs experiencing temporary financial difficulties.” The operation is now complete, though the amount of the transaction has not been disclosed.

In a press release, the parties merely mentioned a share capital increase of €50 million, designed to “strengthen the assets and financial position” of the heavily indebted Trussardi group. In 2018, Trussardi generated a revenue of €150 million. In 2017, its losses were between €5 million and €6 million. Due to a lack of financial resources, the label was struggling to recover. Following the take-over, the group has reached an agreement with the creditor banks.

QuattroR, led by president Andrea Morante and CEO Francesco Conte, now controls 60% of Trussardi, previously 100% owned by the Finos holding company, controlled by brother and sister Tomaso and Gaia Trussardi and their mother Maria Luisa Gavazzeni. The shareholding structure has now changed, after the creation of a new holding company, Levriero Holding. QuattroR has a 70% stake in Levriero Holding, and Tomaso Trussardi holds the remaining 30%. Between them, they hold 86% of Finos, Trussardi’s sole shareholder, with the remaining 14% in the hands of Maria Luisa Gavazzeni. In the end, QuattroR has a stake of approximately 60% in Trussardi.

“The arrival of QuattroR will give Trussardi the economic and financial resources to implement a new five-year international development plan with Tomaso Trussardi, who will assume the role of president of the company’s board of directors,” stated the press release.

Until now, Tomaso Trussardi was the group's CEO. The great-grandson of luxury glove manufacturer Dante Trussardi, who founded the firm in Bergamo in 1911, Tomaso is the last member of the family to hold an active role in the company. Last April, his sister Gaia stepped down from the creative director role she held for five years, and sold her stake in the company, while the other sister, Beatrice, sold her own stake in 2016, and continues to focus on the family’s real estate business and on the Nicola Trussardi Art Foundation.

A relaunch plan for Trussardi will be presented shortly, and a new senior management team will be selected. According to the group, the goal is to “strengthen the brand’s positioning and visibility in the product categories which have made Trussardi recognisable and well-known worldwide.” The relaunch will involve a diversification of Trussardi’s product range, especially in perfumes, working with the label's fragrance partner, the Angelini group.

The Italian label is present in 47 countries with its men's and women’s ready-to-wear lines Trussardi and Trussardi Jeans, and with product licences from watches to home decoration, fragrances, eyewear, childrenswear and more. The group also operates the Trussardi Café and the Trussardi alla Scala restaurant in Milan. The label is distributed via its own e-tail site, over 160 monobrand stores in Europe and Asia, as well as 1,800 multibrand retailers and concessions in department stores.