Kering, the parent of Gucci and Balenciaga, is in exploratory talks to acquire the Italian skiwear brand Moncler, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The talks held were preliminary and there is no certainty it would lead to a deal, the report said.
Kering would need to win the backing of Moncler’s majority shareholder Remo Ruffini for a deal to go ahead. The Italian billionaire bought the brand in 2003 and took it public in 2013.
Moncler said Thursday there was no concrete tie-up option under consideration after a press report that France’s Kering had held exploratory talks with the Italian group.
Remo Ruffini said that from time to time “he maintains contacts and interacts with investors and other sector participants, including the Kering group, in order to explore strategic potential opportunities to further promote the successful development of Moncler.”
“At the moment, however, there is not any concrete hypothesis under consideration,” he said in a statement.
