Qatar fund set to buy French fashion brand Balmain

PARIS: Valentino owners, the Qatari Mayhoola investment fund, are set to acquire the French luxury fashion label Balmain this week for more than 460 million euros ($522 million), three sources with first-hand knowledge of the matter said.
The deal, which could be announced on Wednesday, marks the end of months of negotiations between the Qataris and Balmain investors, who include Sanofi co-founder Jean-Francois Dehecq and the family of former chief executive and controlling shareholder Alain Hivelin, who died in 2014 at the age of 71.
Hivelin revived Balmain, which was near bankruptcy in 2004, by hiring gifted designers and turning it into one of France’s biggest success stories.
Balmain, known for its pricey embroidered military-style jackets, is one of the country’s last few remaining major independent fashion labels along with Lanvin and Hermes.