François-Henri Pinault, chief executive of PPR SA, is embarking upon a new plan to sell the company's European retail divisions, including the popular electronics retailer Fnac and the Conforama discount furniture stores. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal at PPR's headquarters near the Arc de Triomphe, Mr. Pinault detailed, for the first time, his plans to remake his family's company.
"The sooner, the better," said the lanky, sandy-haired 47-year-old, although he said he hadn't given himself a deadline for the planned divestment. "We have a major weakness -- retail. It is a business that cannot develop quickly abroad," because it takes consumers a long time to warm up to an unfamiliar name, Mr. Pinault said. PPR could reap estimated €4 billion (about $6 billion) from the sale of its retail businesses, analysts say. Mr. Pinault wants to use that cash to shop for other apparel and accessories brands to create a new mass-market division mirroring PPR's luxury-goods unit. The company is already expected to take in some €1 billion from a partial stock-market listing of its African consumer-goods division, which begins trading on Dec. 3.
Pierre-Alexandre Tonin
(Source: wsj.com)
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