Gucci owner gets reins of Puma with $7.3b bid

The luxury goods maker has said it aims to step up opening of new Puma stores in developing markets and increase the brand's presence in the United States.

PPR SA, the French owner of the Gucci
luxury brand, said a $7.3 billion bid for German sporting goods maker Puma AG
succeeded after almost two-thirds of investors accepted its offer. PPR now owns
a 62.1 percent stake in Puma, a statement released yesterday by the Paris-based
company shows. The purchase is the first major acquisition by chairman
Francois-Henri Pinault since he took over from his father two years ago. Puma
investors had five weeks until July 11 to tender their shares.
The luxury goods maker agreed in April to purchase a 27
percent stake in Puma and bid for the rest of the shares to gain a global brand
that straddles sports and fashion. Puma, Europe's second-biggest sporting goods
maker, has raised sales fivefold in six years as nostalgia for the 1970s
spurred purchases of shoes and clothes evoking the period.