Relaunch on the cards for eyewear brand Italia Independent

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Dec 19, 2016

Italy's Agnelli family heirs John and Lapo Elkann have invested €10 million in the strengthening and relaunch of struggling eyewear brand Italia Independent, subscribing to the latter's share capital increase, worth €15 million in total.

The pledge in Italia Independent's favour by the members of one of Italy's leading industrial dynasties has been hailed by the Milan stock market, and Italia Independent's shares have recovered, after plummeting on 6th December following the New York antics of majority shareholder Lapo Elkann.

Lapo Elkann, Gianni Agnelli's grandson, has personally invested €7.5 million to relaunch the brand he founded in 2007 with Giovanni Accongiagioco and Andrea Tessitore, thus increasing his stake in the company from 51% to 63.7%.

His brother John Elkann, the President of FIAT Chrysler Automobiles and CEO of Exor, the Agnelli family's holding company, has supported him to the tune of €2.5 million, acquiring an 8.6% stake in Italia Independent's stock.

The Elkann brothers' €10 million, plus another €5 million coming from other investors, will help relaunch Italia Independent, whose results are going through an extremely negative phase. In the first six months of 2016, the company suffered a net loss of €2.6 million, while its revenue plunged by 34.5%, to €16.34 million.