Valentino has reportedly offered €500 million to buy Balmain.
Olivier Rousteing
The French fashion house - owned by Mayhoola For Investments S.P.C., a Qatari investment company - is rumoured to be keen to take over the Italian luxury label, helmed by Olivier Rousteing, so much so that it submitted the proposal on Sunday (03.04.16).
According to French newspaper Les Echos, Bucéphale Finance - a French investment bank - was given a sale mandate by the founder's family to sell the iconic brand for between €300 to €400 million, with Valentino being among the group of three anonymous rival investors to acquire the designer brand.
The race to close the six-figure sum comes after the former Balmain founder, Alain Hivelin, declared the brand was intending to yield financial control in February, despite receiving an estimated annual revenue of €30 million.
However, Hivelin's heirs - who have inherited the designer brand - are now under pressure to come to a decision and have until Thursday (07.04.16) to accept one of the three offers.
Meanwhile, fashion designer Olivier, 30 - who coined the term 'Balmain Army' - has successfully advanced the brand since he took over from the former creative director Christophe Decarnin five years ago and regularly works alongside Kendall and Kylie Jenner and Bella and Gigi Hadid front his campaigns.
Tagged in Zayn Malik Kylie Jenner Olivier Rousteing