MILAN – Prada Group continues to invest in Italy’s pipeline and in the company’s vertical integration.
On Thursday, the Italian luxury group said it has acquired a 10 percent stake in leading tannery Rino Mastrotto Group.
Under the terms of the agreement, Prada has taken full control of tannery Conceria Superior S.p.A. and Tannerie Limoges S.A.S., and is contributing in kind 100 percent of the two companies to Rino Mastrotto Group.
In addition, Prada is making a cash investment in a minority stake in Rino Mastrotto Group, which allows it “to strengthen its control over a highly strategic phase of the production process,” said chairman and executive director Patrizio Bertelli. “Our groups share a passion for quality, innovation and sustainability; we are proud to foster synergies and promote consolidation along the value creation chain and the Made in Italy.”
Rino Mastrotto Group is a global provider of materials and bespoke services for the luxury industry. The transaction, which is expected to close between the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter, contributes to fostering long-term industrial development and reinforces the commercial relationship between the two groups.
The agreement “reflects our ongoing commitment to investing in the luxury segment,” said Matteo Mastrotto, chief executive officer of Rino Mastrotto Group, which is jointly owned by Renaissance Partners and the Mastrotto family. “Having Prada Group as a shareholder is a testament to a long-standing collaboration built on trust and enhances our industrial vision to ensure sustainable growth.”
Rino Mastrotto Group employs more than 1,300 people across five continents and generates a turnover of approximately 360 million euros. Under its umbrella, several companies and brands operate within the luxury segment, including Rino Mastrotto, Basmar, Pomari, Nuova Osba, Tessitura Oreste Mariani and Mapel.
The group is also active in the automotive sector through Brusarosco in Italy and Elmo Leather in Sweden, and in interior design through its Italian division, Elmo Leather, the North American distribution branch Carrol Leather, and Imatex in the textile sector. Morelab, a Tuscan company, is a specialized provider of tailor-made services.
“This transaction adds significant strategic and industrial value, further enhancing Rino Mastrotto’s equity story and supporting both its growth and consolidation journey,” said Alessio Masiero, partner at Renaissance Partners.
Renaissance Partners invests in four sectors: sustainability, information technology, healthcare and specialized industrials, managing over 2.8 billion euros, with investments in 12 companies and an aggregate turnover of approximately 6 billion euros.
Bertelli has often prided himself for starting back in the ’90s to build the group’s network of plants that has grown in time to comprise 24 industrial facilities, of which 21 are in Italy, believing in factories “as families,” creating the group’s own pipeline, from product to retail, and investing over the years in protecting Italy’s supply chain and small- and medium-sized companies.
Among some of the key investments, for example, Prada Group twice joined forces with the Ermenegildo Zegna Group to acquire a majority stake in Filati Biagioli Modesto SpA in 2021, and in 2023 to buy a 15 percent stake each in knitwear and fine yarns specialist Luigi Fedeli e Figlio Srl.
In 2022, Prada took a 43.65 percent stake in Superior, based in Santa Croce sull’Arno in the province of Pisa, Tuscany. The company, a leader in calfskin processing, has been active for more than 60 years in the Italian and international markets as a specialized tanner for the luxury sector.
And in 2014, it acquired historic French tannery Tannerie Limoges, founded in 1936, relaunching the storied production site, specialized in lambskin tanning and in particular in the tanning of plongé nappa leather.
In addition, aiming at the integration of a luxury brand, Prada in April confirmed it was acquiring 100 percent of Versace from Capri Holdings for 1.25 billion euros, a transaction which is expected to close in the second half of the year.