Luca de Meo won’t arrive as Kering’s new chief executive officer until mid-September, but luxury analysts are already drafting a to-do list for him.
In a research note Wednesday, Bernstein analyst Luca Solca said the Renault executive must curb Kering‘s elevated debt levels, and perhaps “negotiate a larger ‘equity for Valentino’ deal with Mayhoola.”
Two years ago, Kering bought a 30 percent stake in Valentino for 1.7 billion euros in cash as part of a broader strategic partnership with the Qatari investment fund. The French group, parent of Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and other luxury brands, has an option to buy 100 percent of Valentino’s capital by 2028, while Mayhoola could become a shareholder in Kering.
According to Bernstein’s tallies, Kering will need up to 3.4 billion euros in cash to pay for the remaining 70 percent.
Solca also suggested de Meo should fix the management operation, and foresees “less of a need” for deputy CEOs Francesca Bellettini, in charge of brand development, and Jean-Marc Duplaix, in charge of operations and finance.
François-Henri Pinault, who has held the CEO title since 2005 and navigated the family-controlled conglomerate through multiple transformations, put that management structure in place as he quietly prepared for his succession. He is retaining the chairman’s role and indicated he will be fully involved in the strategic orientation of the group.
“There would seem to be lots of cooks in the kitchen if a hands-on chairman, a CEO and two co-CEOs were to coexist, not to mention brand CEOs,” Solca wrote in the report. “Who will call the shots on Gucci and the other brands?
“The role of brand coordinator creates a ‘moral hazard’ at the brand level, driving a disconnect between the person who’s calling the shots — we think Bellettini —and the person who’s on the hook —Stefano Cantino, as the CEO of Gucci.”
Solca cautioned that “miracle expectations” on designers — in this case Demna, brought over from Balenciaga to rev up Gucci — should be put into perspective as designers “operate in the context of a vision from the brand leader, and in coordination with all other company functions.”
According to Bernstein, Kering’s net debt rose from 200 million euros in 2021 to about 10.5 billion euros at the end of 2024 as the French group embarked “on a major M&A and capex spree just at the time when business performance was sinking.”
In addition to the Valentino stake, Kering acquired beauty brand Creed, eyewear firm Maui Jim and prime chunks of real estate in Tokyo, Milan, Paris and New York, some of which have already been sold back at lower than the purchase price, which Solca described as “a bitter but necessary medicine.”
The announcement that de Meo would leave Renault Group for Kering “produced a 3.4 billion euro share price move, when we add the decline at Renault and the increase at Kering,” according to Bernstein.
The Italian executive spent five years leading Renault and boasts a total of 30 years in the automobile industry at brands including Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Toyota, Volkswagen and Seat.