Armani, the $12 billion fortune divided among the heirs. Lvmh's aims and the stock market hypothesis

For some years Giorgio Armani had been working on the succession of the group he founded. He did so with a clear message: 'As long as I live, I will be the boss,' he had said some time ago after a fashion show.

Now it will be necessary to wait for the provisions of the will, but certainly in recent years the ground has been prepared for trusted people: 'For the succession,' Giorgio Armani explained in the past, 'I believe the best solution would be a group of trusted people, close to me and chosen by me', with a clear involvement of the Armani Foundation, and a reference to the two granddaughters, Silvana and Roberta, daughters of his brother Sergio who died years ago, the other grandson, Andrea Camerana, son of his sister Rosanna, and the manager Leo Dell'Orco.

The group's numbers are significant. With almost 12 billion in assets according to Forbes. The succession was prepared in a 2016 document, then revised two years ago: until now, the late fashion designer owned 99.9% of the group while 0.1% is held by the Giorgio Armani Foundation. Now, according to rumours in recent months, there are six categories of shareholders (from A to F plus others without voting rights), all equal before the dividend (only '50% of net profits will be shared'). The heir shareholders will share the share capital, together with the Foundation, and appoint the new board of directors. However, some new shareholders will have three times the votes and the right to appoint the ceo. The A-partners will have 30% of the capital, the F-partners 10%, the others 15%.

One of the scenarios, with succession, could be the listing of the Giorgio Armani Group on the stock exchange within five years. Despite the unfavourable economic situation for luxury in the past year, the company is sitting on a significant cash generation: about one billion. In four years, almost 600 million profit was realised, part of which was distributed in dividends. According to the latest approved figures, in 2024, turnover reached 2.3 billion with a pre-tax profit of around 75 million. Based on industry multiples, the entire group could be worth around EUR 10 billion.

But the dossier has also been on the table of the big merchant banks for years. Although many observers believe it is likely that, when the succession takes place, large fashion multinationals will come forward, such as the French giant Lvmh, which has repeatedly tried to approach the stylist in past years, but also the major international private equity funds, starting with Cvc, Blackstone and Kkr.