Giorgio Armani’s Heirs Weigh LVMH, L’Oréal and EssilorLuxottica for Billionaire’s 15% Stake Sale

Giorgio Armani’s will requires his heirs to bring in an outside shareholder by early 2027. Splitting that first stake among three buyers would honor his list of preferred partners, but it would leave open the bigger question of who eventually controls the house.

Giorgio Armani spent half a century turning away buyers for the company he co-founded with Sergio Galeotti in 1975. A little over a year after his death, the Milan house is preparing the Armani stake sale his will demands. Its chief executive has said the first 15% need not go to one buyer.

“It is not written in stone that it has to be one investor,” Giuseppe Marsocci told reporters backstage at the Giorgio Armani show in Milan on September 27. No decision had been taken, he said, and any deal would depend on agreeing price and terms. The company was getting ready to meet the three groups the founder named as preferred buyers (LVMH, L’Oréal and EssilorLuxottica). One option under informal discussion would give each of them 5%.

For a private house with €2.19 billion in annual revenue, carving up a minority stake sounds like housekeeping. In fact it is the opening move in a succession plan that could put Armani under outside control within five years. How the 15% is divided will go a long way toward deciding whether that plan ends with a strategic owner or a listing in Milan.

Giorgio Armani’s will reads like a deal timetable

Armani died on September 4, 2025, at 91. His will directs that the first 15% change hands between 12 and 18 months after his death, which puts the outer limit around March 2027. LVMH, L’Oréal and EssilorLuxottica come first. If none of them buys, the stake can go to a fashion or luxury company of similar standing. That buyer must be chosen with the agreement of Pantaleo “Leo” Dell’Orco, the designer’s longtime partner and head of menswear, who now chairs the board.

The second stage matters more. Three to five years after the founder’s death, the heirs must either sell a further 30% to 54.9%, preferably to whoever bought the first stake, or take the company public, ideally in Milan. Whatever happens, the Giorgio Armani Foundation keeps at least 30.1% of the capital.

The voting rules protect the founder’s circle. Dell’Orco holds 40% of the voting rights and keeps all of them after the first sale. The foundation’s share of the vote shrinks, but it holds a veto over changes to the statutes and over capital increases. The newcomer gets 15% of the votes and a board seat.

Read as a whole, the will sketches one partner working its way toward a large position while the founder’s chosen custodians keep their protections. A three-way split cuts against that design. The will says the second tranche should go preferably to “the same buyer.” With three buyers of the first stake, that instruction has nobody obvious to point at, and a listing becomes the easier default. The wording creates a smaller snag as well: the will gives the board seat to the buyer, singular.

The calendar is tight. Talks first planned for June slipped to late September or October, reportedly over price. The 18-month window may not hold, although the company says it will respect the founder’s schedule. The will is silent on what happens if the deadline passes.

LVMH, L’Oréal and EssilorLuxottica want different things

Beyond sharing a line in the will, the three preferred buyers have little in common.

L’Oréal holds the Armani beauty and fragrance license until 2050. Its finance chief, Christophe Babule, said earlier this year that the group would consider a stake. A holding in the parent company would protect a license with a quarter-century left to run; for L’Oréal, that protection is the main reason to buy.

EssilorLuxottica has made Armani eyewear since 1988, when the designer began working with Leonardo Del Vecchio, and its current license runs into the late 2030s. Ownership also ran the other way: Armani personally held about 2.5% of EssilorLuxottica. The eyewear group has signaled interest in a passive holding of 5% to 10%, with no operating role, and little appetite for more.

LVMH has no Armani license to defend. Its 2025 revenue fell 5% to €80.8 billion, and its fashion and leather goods division dropped to €37.8 billion. LVMH has shown interest in the process, but the fit is awkward. Armani runs from EA7 sportswear and Emporio Armani through home furnishings and hotels to Armani Privé couture, and much of that range overlaps with labels LVMH already owns.

What each buyer wants matters more here than how big it is. For L’Oréal and EssilorLuxottica, a minority stake is insurance on income they already collect from Armani, and the return on the shares is a secondary concern. For LVMH, a 5% holding is worth little by itself. Its value lies in the inside track toward the second, larger tranche. An equal split therefore suits the two license holders and gives LVMH far less reason to pay up.

What the Armani stake sale might cost

Armani has not disclosed a valuation. Bankers and advisers have put the group at about €5 billion to €7 billion, and some estimates run well above that. On that range, 15% would cost about €750 million to €1.05 billion, or €250 million to €350 million per buyer in an equal split.

By CEOWORLD Magazine’s calculations, that range implies an equity value of 2.3 to 3.2 times 2025 revenue. After deducting year-end net cash of €529 million, the enterprise value comes to roughly 29 to 42 times 2025 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). Those are rich multiples for a business whose sales fell for a second straight year.

A buyer would be paying for the reach of the brand. The group says total turnover climbs to about €4 billion once licensees’ direct sales are counted, nearly double its own reported revenue. The distance between those two measures of Armani helps explain why price talks have dragged.

Armani’s balance sheet gives it time

Revenue fell 2.8% at constant exchange rates in 2025 (4.6% in euros) to €2.19 billion. Direct retail grew 2% and wholesale fell 7%. EBITDA rose 3.2% to €152.7 million, helped by cost cuts and strong sales at Armani Privé. Consolidated equity was €1.99 billion, and net cash reached €596 million once treasury investments are included.

Armani does not need the money. The will orders a transfer of existing shares, so the proceeds go to the sellers, not the company, and the deal is about ownership and governance. That leaves Marsocci room to bargain. A 23-year company veteran named chief executive in October 2025, he is drafting a new business plan and has picked out accessories as a source of growth.

Why this matters for business leaders

Armani’s will is an unusually explicit case of a founder scripting his company’s exit after his death. Heirs and staff gain clarity about where the house is going. The drawback is that every bidder can read the deadline too, and a fixed date favors patient buyers. Naming three preferred suitors in advance also thins the competition before talks start.

The case also shows why license holders make natural minority owners of family-controlled luxury houses. A company that already earns money from a brand will pay to protect that income, which supports the price. It is much less likely to want control. A founder’s long-term plan can then end up resting on buyers whose interests lie elsewhere.

Executive takeaways

Armani’s chief executive has opened the door to dividing the first 15% among more than one buyer, with LVMH, L’Oréal and EssilorLuxottica expected at the table.

A split would protect existing license income and keep all three groups involved. It would also weaken the will’s route to a single strategic owner and make a Milan listing likelier at the second stage.

Investors and partners exposed to Armani should read the terms closely. Any rights attached to the second tranche, and the question of who takes the board seat, will say more about the outcome than the price.

Over the next 12 to 24 months, watch whether a deal closes before the early-2027 deadline, how many shareholders enter, and whether any of them wins priority over the larger stake due between 2028 and 2030. Three cautious partners on 5% each would satisfy Armani’s instructions on paper. They would also leave the question he cared about most, who eventually owns the house, exactly where it stood on the day the will was read.

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