PPR SA is planning on selling its once-core French retail businesses – including the electronics retailer Fnac and the Conforama discount furniture stores and the mail-order catalog business Redcats – to focus on developing its fashion brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci and Puma.
According to the Wall Street Journal, analysts believe the company, could get up to $6 billion for the retail business. François-Henri Pinault, CEO of PPR SA, told the Journal that the reason for selling is that retail “cannot develop quickly abroad,” because it takes consumers too long to bond with an unfamiliar name.
PPR also on Tuesday revealed details of the planned stock market listing of its
African distribution unit CFAO. PPR plans to sell a 49.6% stake to , raise up to €1 billion
($1.50 billion). The company had announced
last month that it planned an IPO for the African unit, which sells
cars, pharmaceuticals and computers across the continent,
Pinault told the Journal that the company willl look into acquiring another label geared towards outdoor activities to bolster Puma in the mass market. The Journal said the goal would be to acquire “other apparel and accessories brands to create a new mass-market division mirroring PPR's luxury-goods unit.”
Other brands owned by PPR include Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Boucheron, Sergio Ross and Stella McCartney.
