Kiko Milano’s Owner Percassi Buys Back Peninsula Capital’s Shares
MILAN — The Percassi family has regained full control of Kiko SpA.
The founding family of the Italian beauty company has bought back the 38 percent stake Peninsula Capital had held in the firm.
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As reported, the private equity fund first invested in Kiko in 2018 through an 80 million euro capital increase. Financial terms of Percassi’s buyback deal were not disclosed.
“This represents the trust and support the Percassi family has in our plans and the future of Kiko Milano,” said the brand’s chief executive officer Simone Dominici, who was appointed to the role earlier this year. Counting former professional experiences at Unilever, Coin, Bottega Veneta and most recently Coty Inc., Dominici succeeded Cristina Scocchia, who exited Kiko at the end of 2021 to move to Italian coffee specialist Illycaffè.
On Monday, Kiko also named Candice Llorens chief marketing officer. The appointment is intended to support the enhancement of the brand’s awareness on a global scale and its transition from a makeup brand to an overall beauty label through the focus on new product categories.
Llorens hails from Yves Rocher, where she was global chief brand officer and member of the executive committee. Since 2018, she led the global strategy for the French beauty brand and its multichannel transformation, touching on product innovation, brand image and customer experience.
Previously, Llorens had different roles at L’Oréal. First she was in the beauty powerhouse’s Active Cosmetics Division, where in 2007 she was operative marketing manager for Vichy France, and the following year she was named Europe zone marketing and business development manager, contributing to the launch of SkinCeuticals in Europe. Then she joined the Consumer Product Division, first as global brand manager and then as assistant vice president global marketing — scaling up the L’Oréal Paris Elvive hair care brand, among others. She next became the division’s vice president global marketing, new businesses.
Established in 1997 by entrepreneurs Antonio and Stefano Percassi, Kiko Milano is controlled by Percassi’s Odissea Srl holding and generated sales of 473.9 million euros in 2021. The company counts more than 950 stores in 52 countries.
Luxembourg-based private equity fund Peninsula still retains a minority stake in Zadig & Voltaire, among other investments in different fields. In 2017, the fund also invested in the NTV-Italo high-speed train service, which was first developed by Diego Della Valle with former Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.
