The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The Brazilian footwear and accessories conglomerate has paid 130 million reais ($25 million) to acquire a 65 percent share in the Milan-based shoe brand, signalling the company’s plans to continue expanding its global footprint.
Arezzo & Co will inject $10 million into Paris Texas’ cash flow, while $15 million will be paid to the brand’s founders, Annamaria Brivio and Massimo Baltimora. The duo will retain a 35 percent stake in the business and continue to run operations and brand direction independently, with the support of Arezzo & Co’s global infrastructure and strategic expertise.
With this majority share investment, the Brazilian giant, which currently has revenues of over $1.2 billion and a market cap of $1.6 billion, aims to strengthen its position as an accessories conglomerate and penetrate deeper into the European market. It also represents the further expansion of the group into the luxury segment beyond group chief executive and designer Alexandre Bimran’s namesake label.
Paris Texas, known for its elegant yet tough aesthetic, was founded in 2015 and has already made a name for itself in the luxury footwear segment. The Italian brand is stocked in over 250 leading luxury retailers worldwide, including Harrods, Saks Fifth Avenue, Luisa Via Roma, and Bergdorf Goodman.
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This is the second investment of 2023 for the group. In January, Arezzo & Co purchased Brazilian footwear brand Vicenza. Prior to that, the company made several acquisitions, including womenswear label Carol Bassi, streetwear brand BAW, and Reserva — all part of the company’s lifestyle division AR&Co.
The conglomerate’s brand portfolio also includes Arezzo, Schutz, Anacapri, Alexandre Birman, Fiever, Alme, and a distribution license for Vans, as well as the operations of the ZZ Mall marketplace and the resale platform Troc.
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