MILAN — The eight-year marriage between private equity fund Clessidra SGR and casualwear label Harmont & Blaine, known for its dachshund logo, has come to an end.
An investment vehicle backed by former Clessidra SGR partner Riccardo Bruno and other investors named Bassotto 2.0, which is the Italian word for dachshund, has bought out the 40 percent interest the private equity firm had owned in Harmont & Blaine since 2014.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Following the deal, Bruno will become the brand’s president while its long-standing creative director Paolo Montefusco, a member of the founding family, will be named chief executive officer, succeeding Marco Pirone, who has held the role for two years.
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“A new important chapter for Harmont & Blaine opens and I’m ready to embrace new achievements and challenges together with my siblings and Bruno,” said Montefusco, who’s returning to the driver’s seat after he held the title from 2016 to 2020.
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“Our Italian heritage intertwined with an international vision is geared at tapping into a conscious audience looking for a positive lifestyle,” he said, nodding to the company’s recently rebranded catchphrase “feel good everyday style.”
The Milan-based private equity fund Clessidra SGR, which is part of the Pesenti family’s investment holding Italmobiliare SpA, has toyed with luxury for a while, having previously invested and divested fashion label Roberto Cavalli and jeweler and watchmaker Buccellati.
“With this sale we completed our investment process aimed at the development and internationalization of the brand, perfecting a project that grew organically in continuity and to best serve the interest of the company and its founding shareholders,” said Marco Carotenuto, managing director of Clessidra SGR.
Bruno touted Harmont & Blaine’s human values and quintessentially Italian fashion proposition and said his “long-term goal is to open up new development prospects, consolidating the brand’s identity,” he said.
Headquartered in Naples, Harmont & Blaine has 81 flagships, as well as 75 shops-in-shop and is carried by 469 retailers worldwide. In 2019, the company posted sales of 94 million euros and previous CEO Pirone told WWD earlier this year that 2022 revenues should be in the same range.