Italian fashion brand La Perla Manufacturing is insolvent

Founded by Ada Masotti in 1956, the company is headquartered in Bologna, Italy. In 2007, her son sold the company to the private equity firm JH Partners. After six years, La Perla became the property of Silvio Scaglia, who sold it to Sapinda in 2018. Sapinda became the private equity firm Tennor, owned by German Lars Windhorst. According to information, the latter had promised financing of 60 to 70 million euros for the relaunch of the brand, but this never materialized. According to the 2022 annual report, La Perla recorded a pre-tax loss of almost 49 million euros on a turnover of around 69 million euros.

New sources of income were explored, such as sales on Amazon Luxury. 50 million was invested in the British fashion house Ralph & Russo, which has since closed.

credit: la perla

Last fall, La Perla made headlines when a London judge ordered the UK branch to close due to tax debts of 3.2 million euros. The application was filed back in June 2023 – however, some payment deferrals were granted. La Perla Global Management (UK) Limited was dissolved following an application by the tax authority HMRC. Creditors were able to apply for the liquidation of a debtor in order to wind up the company, sell the assets and use the proceeds to settle outstanding claims. Two other creditors had joined the petition.

The news from Italy comes after the judicial liquidation of La Perla Global Management UK began in the UK. Now a court in Bologna has declared La Perla Manufacturing Srl insolvent. The company employs around 330 people, 230 of whom are said to work at the production site in Bologna.