Pambianco, a strategy and marketing consultancy company specializing in the fashion and luxury sector, gives bombshell news: Pomellato has accelerated negotiations for the sale. In short, it would be close to a sale, following the example of Bulgari which passed to LVMH last year. The possibility had been circulating for some time, to be honest, but now it would have become more concrete. The new partner would be “industrial”, that is, active in a similar or complementary sector to that of the goldsmith company. Pomellato, Pambianco news points out, is faced with a generational transition: founder Pino Rabolini is approaching eighty years old and has no operational heirs in the company (a 10% share of the company belongs to the CEO Andrea Morante). Among other things, the sale could also be a way to get Damiani out, a partner who controls 18% of the capital through the Sparkling holding company and has already expressed his intention to sell. Pomellato has a turnover of 138 million (in 2011) with an ebitda (approximately gross profit) of 14.6 million. It could be valued at 300 million, which would be equivalent to a multiple of 20 times the 2011 margin. There are already those who are speculating on possible buyers: first of all Swatch, which has just bought Harry Winston and has liquidity estimated at 1.2 billion euros. Pomellato would open up the prospect of replicating in jewelery (with the Dodo brand) what happened in watchmaking with the Swatch brand. Also in pole position are Richemont (liquidity of 1.6 billion euros) and the French Ppr.
