Prada agrees to buy rival fashion house Versace in a deal valued at $1.4 billion
The Prada Group announced a deal Thursday to buy crosstown Milan fashion rival Versace from the U.S. luxury group Capri Holdings under terms that values one of the most recognizable names in Italian fashion at 1.25 billion euros ($1.4 billion). The deal will put Versace, known for sexy silhouettes and bold Greco and Medusa motifs, under the same roof as Prada’s “ugly chic” aesthetic and the youth-driven Miu Miu whose stunning growth in recent years has far outpaced the market. There are no overlaps in terms of creativity, in terms of customer,″ said Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s chief marketing officer, who is being groomed to one day take over the business that his parents — Miuccia Prada, the group's creative force and largest shareholder, and Patrizio Bertelli, its chairman and executive director — have turned into a global fashion juggernaut.