PPR president scotches rumours of Gucci deal
The deadlock between the European luxury goods houses of Pinault Printemps Redoute (PPR) and LVMH (Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) over Gucci looks set to rumble on.
At a financial press briefing last week, the chief executive of PPR, Serge Weinberg, firmly denied rumours that the French retail conglomerate was considering a $10 billion agreement to buy out LVMH’s 20% stake in Gucci. Such a deal would have brought to an end the ongoing war of words between Weinberg and his counterpart at LVMH, Bernard Arnault, which was sparked by PPR taking a 42% stake in Gucci two years ago.
At the same briefing, Weinberg revealed that the PPR group's sales had risen 23% year on year during the last quarter. Sales of leather goods and ready-to-wear in the Gucci division were up 43.7% and 30.4% respectively. Sales for the Gucci division as a whole were particularly dynamic: 31.2% ahead in Europe, 40% higher in Japan and up 21.8% in other Asian countries.
