Exclusive: ‘Leopard King’ Cavalli nears 450 million euro sale to Permira – sources

By Pamela Barbaglia and Sophie Sassard LONDON (Reuters) – Italian designer Roberto Cavalli is in advanced talks to sell a majority stake in his eponymous fashion house to London-based buyout firm Permira in a sale worth about 450 million euros ($621 million), four sources close to the deal told Reuters. A sale would mark the end of more than 40 years on the haute couture scene for Cavalli, known as “The Leopard King” for his animal prints colorfully cast in leather, silk and velvet. And it would demonstrate once again the appeal of Italian family-owned fashion firms for investors after rival label Versace sold a 20 percent stake to U.S. private equity firm Blackstone for 210 million euros in February. An agreement between Permira and Cavalli could be reached in the coming weeks after the 73-year-old designer, rarely seen without his large sunglasses and cigar, dropped his reluctance to ceding a controlling stake, the sources said.