Gucci owner Kering appoints de Meo as CEO, shares soar

By Gilles Guillaume, Mimosa Spencer and Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) -Gucci owner Kering said it was hiring Renault boss Luca de Meo as its new CEO, confirming reports that sent its shares soaring and those of Renault to multi-year lows earlier on Monday.

The Italian, who has spent his career in the auto industry, will be the first outsider to run the company controlled by the French billionaire Pinault family. He will take on the role on September 15.

The bold move highlights the scale of the challenge in reviving the debt-laden luxury conglomerate, investors and industry players said.

Gucci drove years of spectacular growth at Kering but the company has struggled to reinvigorate its flagship label in the wake of the pandemic. It has also taken on more than 10 billion euros ($11.6 billion) in debt, exposing it to the risk of another credit rating downgrade.

For Renault, the unexpected departure of its CEO is a major blow. De Meo is credited with turning around the French carmaker and overhauling its two-decade strategic alliance with Nissan during his five years at the helm.

Renault announced late on Sunday that de Meo would leave in mid-July to take on new challenges outside the auto sector.

Reports of his switch to Kering sent the luxury group's shares up by nearly 12% on Monday, recording their biggest one-day percentage gain since November 2008.

Renault shares tumbled by about 8%, in what was their biggest daily decline since February 2022.

De Meo's move to Kering, which has lately failed to convince stock market investors with its plans to turn around Gucci, will mark a dramatic change at the group. Its shares have lost two-thirds of their value over the past five years.

De Meo will replace Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault, who will remain as chairman.

"Hiring someone from outside the luxury sector might be seen as risky, but his profile appears well-suited to lead Kering," Kepler Cheuvreux analysts said.

"His turnaround capabilities, product-focused leadership and extensive marketing experience would be particularly valuable."

TURNAROUND NEEDS

De Meo's surprise departure is the second top-level exit from a European carmaker in six months, after Carlos Tavares resigned from Stellantis.

The sector is reeling from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs and fierce competition from Chinese rivals.

A Renault spokesperson said de Meo's departure would not affect the company's coming mid-term strategic plan, though JP Morgan analysts said they considered it a setback for the plan.

His track record suggests he could be a good fit for Kering even without any experience in the luxury sector, some analysts said.

De Meo joined Renault from Volkswagen in 2020, a year in which it registered record losses after a pandemic-induced sales slump.

As CEO, he launched wide-ranging cost cuts that reduced headcount and production capacity worldwide, making Renault a smaller but nimbler company. He also oversaw the reshaping of its often difficult relationship with Nissan.

"This is a personal decision and I am not running away," de Meo said in his note to Renault staff. "Renault Group is well-positioned for the next chapter."

The carmaker was one of only a few automakers not to issue a profit warning last autumn. Its shares are up about 90% over the past five years, making it the best-performing carmaker in Europe. Shares in rival Stellantis are up 15% over the same period, while VW shares are 38% lower.

(Additional reporting by Mathieu Rosemain, Tassilo Hummel and Leigh Thomas in Paris, Danilo Masoni in Milan and Sudip Kar-Gupta in Brussels;Writing by Ingrid Melander;Editing by Catherine Evans and David Goodman)