Cirillo Marcolin explains entry of Della Valle brothers
One month and a half after it was announced that starting 2006 the Dolce&Gabbana license would go to Luxottica, news that had a negative impact on the Stock Exchange, the entry of Diego and Andrea Della Valle has renewed confidence in the Marcolin Group with immediate results on the Stock Exchange, which saw a 23% recovery in shares in just two days.
Cirillo Marcolin, the Company's Managing Director, commented on the operation in an interview with Corriere del Veneto. 'We are pleased because the financial operation has industrial value', Marcolin stated. 'It allows the Della Valle brothers to join the corporate structure and they will bring all their experience and expertise in the luxury world with them. Fashion licenses are our bread and butter and they will make a decisive contribution, not only to developing those already in our portfolio, but to acquiring new and important licenses. This was the main objective'.
The Managing Director also commented on the decision to terminate the shareholder pact with Marcolin shareholders, explaining that the decision was taken 'to give all the members of the family greater freedom to handle their shares. This does not necessarily mean selling them: some of us had already expressed the wish to reduce the number of shares we hold, others wanted to increase them in view of future generations. The operation was devised to allow new partners to enter, to give shareholders greater freedom of movement and to avoid further impediments, such as a takeover bid that would have been obligatory with a new control block of over 30%'.
Marcolin then underscored that, for the time being, the Board of Directors would remain in office 'without any change', and added: 'Later, if the Della Valle brothers want to indicate other people they would prefer to represent them on the Board, obviously the doors will be open. It won't be anything new for us: Marcolin's corporate structure has always been adequately represented on the Board'.
Marcolin did not exclude the possibility that the Della Valle brothers' shareholding in the group would increase in the future, but he emphasized: 'The family currently holds 29%, it is the reference shareholder and wants to remain so. We founded this company and we want to continue to be the main players within it. 46% of the group is on the market: the real figure is around 41% as the rest is held by Dolce & Gabbana who, according to the newspapers, are about to leave. But we have had no communication about this'.
With regard to this point, Cirillo Marcolin tackled again the October 11 collapse on the Stock Exchange and reiterated that it had been a difficult time: 'entrepreneurs know that risky situations are par for the course. You have to be courageous. Our problem was to find a convincing answer in a very short time, which was dictated by our status as a listed company. Investors and the market expect an immediate response'.
The answers arrived on November 22. Now everyone is expecting that Tod's eyewear will soon be launched. Marcolin did not deny this possibility, but pointed out: 'This will be decided by Tod's and by the Board, which will assess the new industrial development plans. At the moment we must conceive a re-launch strategy in an economic and sector situation that still has problems. After a negative 2003, this year there has been a decisive improvement in our accounts. In the first nine months of 2004, revenues increased by 12% to 128 million. We expect to close the year in line with this figure'.
