Is Valentino on the acquisitional prowl? It seems so, if you believe a report from French financial newspaper Les Echos over the weekend. According to the paper, Valentino (which is owned by the Qatar-based investment group Mayhoola, made up of members of the country’s royal family) has offered €500 million (or about $569 million at current exchange) to acquire Balmain. It’s been previously reported that the owners of Balmain, which has financially prospered under designer Olivier Rousteing, have been looking to sell the company.
According to the report, two other unnamed buyers, one Chinese and one American, are also in the running, and the result will be announced on Thursday. We reached out to Balmain, which had no comment. We’ve also contacted a rep for Valentino, and will update this post when we hear back.