Luxury goods group Kering announced the acquisition of a building on the most important street in Milan's fashion district for €1.3 billion, including a store from its main competitor, LVMH, AFP reports.
Located at Via Montenapoleone 8, one of the world's most popular shopping addresses according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield, the building totals over 5,000 m² of retail space, currently occupied by boutiques such as Prada, Saint-Laurent, and the famous Cova pastry-confectionery, owned by Kering's competitor, LVMH, which will remain a tenant.
"This investment is part of Kering's selective real estate strategy, aimed at securing key and highly desirable locations for its houses," details the world's number two in the luxury goods industry, owner of Gucci, Saint-Laurent, and Balenciaga among others.
In January, Kering bought a building on 5th Avenue in New York for almost a billion dollars (€885 million). "Kering continues to proactively manage its real estate portfolio," says the group, "with the short- to medium-term objective of retaining a stake in its main assets alongside co-investors".
In mid-March, the luxury goods group announced that it expected sales to fall "by around 10%" year-on-year in the first quarter, weighed down by the difficulties of its flagship Gucci brand. Kering had renewed the management of the Italian brand in 2023, placing one of François-Henri Pinault's closest associates, Jean-François Palus, Kering's Deputy CEO, at its head. /BGNES