Carlyle, General and Permira, three likely pretenders for Golden Goose

Although final bids are not expected until February, 10 truth is that there is already a fierce competition amongst leading investment funds to acquire control over Golden Goose.

The luxury clothing group is currently controlled by the majority shareholder Ergon Capital, which in the past months has appointed private bankers at Lazard after receiving several expressions of interest, reports ‘Il Sole 24Ore’.

Sources close to the matter quoted in the weekend edition of the Italian paper highlight the main competitors to date: Carlyle, General Atlantic and Permira “plus maybe some other financial group.”

Carlyle, the industry’s favourite to acquire majority stake in Golden Goose

Carlyle, a leading U.S. private equity firm, counts on Giorgio Presca, former CEO of Geox. to structure the final bid. Market sources forecast the deal to be close around 400 million euros.

The US private equity giant Carlyle Group (Carlyle Group) recently to 400 million euros offer, has become the most likely to successfully acquire the Italian luxury brand Golden Goose Deluxe Brand (Chinese translation of "golden goose", hereinafter referred to as "Golden Goose") majority Stake in the candidate buyers.

Ergon Capital Partners bought the luxury shoes brand from the Italian private equity fund DGPA SGR II for about 80 million euros. Now, Ergon’s 75 percent stake in GGDB is up for grabs. The brand co-founders People Alessandro Gallo and Francesca Rinaldo retained the remaining shares (a total 25 percent stake.)

Chinese media recall that Golden Goose's current CEO is Roberta Benaglia, CEO of Style Capital, a minority-owned private equity fund, who is expected to remain in the company after Golden Goose's stake is sold.

Photo:Golden Goose