François-Henri Pinault open to further sports brand acquisitions

By

Jean-Paul Leroy

Published
Apr 11, 2014

In an interview conducted in China with the Bloomberg news agency, Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault has reaffirmed his confidence in his group’s sports division as well as its strategic choices.

"When you look at the next 20, 30 years in terms of economic development of the world, the key markets are young people very much attracted by brands, very much aware of the health issues, attracted by sports," said the director. "Luxury and sports are structurally, over a long period of time, growing markets."

What’s more, the CEO of Kering does not exclude the possibility of further sports and lifestyle brand acquisitions over the next three years. At the same time, he admits that this would of course also depend on the ability of Kering to reverse Puma’s economic situation, which has been so far mismanaged.

François-Henri Pinault counts on seeing the sports division’s first signs of success by this September-October when wholesale orders will be taken and the Puma slogan, "Forever Faster," will have proved convincing.