In the early 1960s, a 27-year-old Frenchman named Francois Pinault started his first business, a small timber company called Les Etablissements Francois Pinault. Given that Pinault left school at age 16 to begin working in his family’s timber business, the nature of his first solo venture made sense. Within a decade, the Cote d’Armor-born Pinault had set his eyes on expansion, buying up various “small, undervalued firms around the country to expand his [own] timber outfit,” according to the Guardian. He built a thriving business of his own in the process – the luxury goods group that would become known as Kering.
Pinault’s acquisition endeavors escalated as time went on, as aided by the French government, which “sought to save jobs [in the 1970s] by offering entrepreneurs like Mr. Pinault chances to acquire failing privately owned companies at fire sale prices, often as little as one franc,” the New York Times’ John Tagliabue wrote in 1997. “Pinault gradually amassed a fortune by buying up companies this way, then using government aid to turn them around and sell them at a profit.”
Firmly cemented in the timber business when he set out, over time, Pinault’s targets began to look differently: lumber manufacturers became construction materials providers and paper suppliers. And in the early 1990s, more change came into fruition when Pinault – by way of his company Pinault SA – acquired Au Printemps SA, the French department store chain, and the Pinault-Printemps Group was formed. Two years later, in 1994, the group was renamed (again) to Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, following the merger of La Redoute – a French multi-line retailer specializing in ready to wear apparel – within the group.
But the most significant change to the group’s direction would not come until the late 1990s, ten years after Pinault’s company – then still called Pinault SA – listed on the Paris stock market in 1988, raising capital in order to achieve broader diversification. This would set the company, which is now known as Kering, on a path to becoming one of the largest luxury goods groups in the world, under the direction of Pinault, himself, and then under the watch of his son François-Henri.
Its reign as a luxury powerhouse would begin largely with a single purchase: a Florentine leather goods company named Gucci. From there, the Pinaults, a long way from the elder’s timber trading, distribution and processing days, would swoop in and buy up the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and other fashion houses, such as Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta, thereby, transforming its single fashion offering, Gucci (which, at the time fell under the umbrella of an entity called the Gucci Group), into a multi-brand luxury goods group.
Here is a look at the timeline behind the building of Kering into one of world’s most valuable luxury goods groups …
2021: LINGBERG
In June 2021, Kering revealed that it would take a 100 percent stake in Danish eyewear brand LINBERG in furtherance of “an important milestone in the successful expansion of Kering Eyewear and [an acquisition that] perfectly fits with its development strategy.” The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
2021: Cocoon
Kering revealed in June 2021 that it has taken an undisclosed stake in Cocoon, a London-based startup that specializes in facilitating rentals for luxury handbags.
2021: Vestiaire Collective
Kering announced in March that it has taken a 5 percent stake in secondhand marketplace Vestiaire Collective, leading a $216 million funding round alongside American investment firm Tiger Global Management.
2014: Ulysse Nardin
Kering acquired the 171-year old Swiss haute horlogerie brand Ulysse Nardin in 2014.
2013: Tomas Maier
In November 2013, Kering and Tomas Maier (who, in addition to the lead of his eponymous label, was the Creative Director of Bottega Veneta from 2001 to 2018) announced the formation of a joint venture.
In June 2018, Kering revealed that Mr. Maier would leave his position as creative director of Bottega Veneta, and that it would shutter Maier’s eponymous label to an end, a move that was characterized as yet another effort by Kering to “streamline [its] portfolio into a luxury-first conglomerate.” According to a statement from Kering, “Mr. Maier remains the owner of the Tomas Maier trademark.”
2013: Altuzarra
In September 2013, Kering took a minority stake in the American luxury women’s ready-to-wear and accessories brand, Altuzarra, which was founded in 2008. In 2020, Joseph Altuzarra bought back his stake in the company, making it 100 percent privately owned again.
This is a short excerpt from a Timeline that is published exclusively for TFL Pro+ subscribers. For access to our up-to-date Kering M&A tracker, inquire today about how to sign up for a Pro+ subscription.