Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 24, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
The Pinault family raises €400M for Kering's recovery, betting on a stock rebound under new CEO Luca de Meo. The bond issue reflects confidence in Kering's future.
By Elisa Anzolin and Tassilo Hummel
MILAN (Reuters) -Artemis, the holding company of France's Pinault family, which controls Gucci owner Kering, announced on Tuesday it was raising 400 million euros ($464 million) from investors buying into the hope the luxury group will recover under new CEO Luca de Meo.
The bond issue, coming days after Kering announced it hired auto executive de Meo to restructure the business, also points to the current cash needs at the Pinault's heavily indebted holding, which also owns stakes in sportswear company Puma, a Hollywood talent agency and some exclusive wineries.
In addition to annual interest rate payments of between 1% and 1.5%, investors can make extra gains with a cash settlement tied to the performance of Kering shares, if they rise at least 35% above their current level by the end of 2030.
The bond will not lead to the exchange of actual Kering shares.
Demand has exceeded the deal size, the bookrunners led by J.P. Morgan said earlier on Tuesday, pointing to confidence in the company's future.
Kering's shares lost over 60% of their value over the last two years, which were marked by a string of profit warnings and designer changes at Gucci.
Artemis will likely have to pay back 500 million euros in cash to investors for a convertible bond due this week, after Puma shares underperformed.
J.P. Morgan, Credit Agricole CIB, Natixis and BNP Paribas are the global coordinators of the bond issue.
In trying to reduce Kering's over-reliance on struggling flagship label Gucci, Kering's outgoing chief executive, French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault, has embarked on an aggressive debt-financed acquisition strategy as the industry entered a prolonged slump.
The strategy affected Artemis's balance sheet, with consolidated debt of 26.7 billion euros at the end of 2024, up from 24.9 billion euros the year before. Of that, long-term debt amounted to 21.3 billion euros, up from 20.4 billion euros in 2023. The figure does not include additional long-term lease liabilities over 5 billion euros.
Meanwhile, the group's activities outside Kering produced recurring operating income of roughly 50 million euros, a swing from a 115.3 million euro loss the year before.
Artemis said its net financial debt, which only includes its direct non-operational subsidiaries, amounted to 7.1 billion euros as of May 31.
The net proceeds of the bond issue will be used for general corporate purposes, according to the Artemis statement. The company holds around 43% of Kering's capital and a majority of voting rights.
($1 = 0.8624 euros)
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin. Editing by Valentina Za, Mark Potter and David Gregorio)
The Pinault family is raising 400 million euros ($464 million) from investors.
The net proceeds of the bond issue will be used for general corporate purposes.
Kering's shares have lost over 60% of their value in the last two years due to profit warnings and designer changes at Gucci.
The global coordinators of the bond issue include J.P. Morgan, Credit Agricole CIB, Natixis, and BNP Paribas.
Artemis has consolidated debt of 26.7 billion euros, with long-term debt amounting to 21.3 billion euros as of the end of 2024.
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