Balmain And Valentino Fight Side By Side.

Qatar Royal again.

The private equity fund Mayhoola, controlled by Princess Sheikha Mozah, bought the French luxury brand Balmain at 485 million euros (3 billion 610 million yuan).

At that time, it was 4 years since the last acquisition, and the target was Valentino.

Balmain has been over 70 since its founding.

In 1945, the French Pierre Balmain opened its own fashion house in Paris, and became the two leading figure in Paris fashion industry with the same hot designer Christian Dior.

The two agreed on the idea of women's dress.

In the following decades, Balmain's clothes were always associated with royalty and movie stars.

In 1982, when the founder of Pierre Balmain died, the brand was pferred to a Canadian industrialist.

The stable days didn't last long. Until 1995, LVMH Alain Hivelin contributed Balmain.

In 2004, the brand went bankrupt.

Until 5 years ago, genius designer Olivier Rousteing was dug as Balmain creative director before she regained her position in the luxury front line.

He intends to follow the successful path of Valentino and squeeze into 1 billion euros (7 billion 451 million yuan) camp in a short time.

However, when Alain Hivelin died at the end of 2014, Balmain was doomed to be sold again. Although the wife of Alain Hivelin and her three daughters inherited the company's shareholding, they knew nothing about how to operate.

"There are many buyers who are interested in Balmain," said Balmain CEO.

There are many "friends", private equity funds and family businesses, "we can see the best choice when Mayhoola shows willingness to buy."

Although Balmain does not need to issue regular financial information, the French echo newspaper estimates that Balmain revenue in 2015 will be around 120 million euros (about 894 million yuan).

According to BoF

Business commentary reported that this figure was only 30 million euros (about 220 million yuan) in 2012.

In 2012, the Mayhoola private equity fund took Italy's luxury brand Valentino under the price of 825 million US dollars (about 6 billion 147 million yuan).

In an interview with the foreign media "women's Wear Daily", Valentino CEO Stefano Sassi said that since its taking over, Mayhoola has fully supported the brand's global promotion.

When the luxury market grew by only 2% in 2013, according to Bain consulting, Valentino's sales increased by an astonishing 25% over the same period.

Of course, one of the causes of this leap is that its original cardinal number is too small.

Mayhoola's early vision was to allow the brand to go public in 5 years, that is, in 2017.

However, when Stefano Sassi was recently asked about the listing plan, he answered equivocation: "who knows?" perhaps he is still waiting for the future sister brand Balmain to further push up its valuation?

At this point, Balmain seems to have a clearer plan for its future: strengthening handbag business and speeding up the opening of new stores worldwide.

Balmain has a total of 17 Direct stores worldwide, including China, Tokyo, Seoul and Dubai.

As a brand base, Europe accounts for half of revenue, while Asia and the rest account for 25% and 7% respectively.

The United States will be the focus of recent brand cultivation, especially online business.

"The location of new shops with primary concern will be in Losangeles, Singapore and Hongkong."

Emmanuel Diemoz said: "we only hope that the number of shops will reach 30, and it can cover every fashionable town.

Of course, with accessories, the number will change. "

Up to now, the proportion of Balmain accessories revenue is only 4%.

He also revealed that the Balmain 2017 spring and summer men's wear series, which will debut in two days, will show a more comprehensive shoe line.