Italy’s Tyche Bank has provided € 500,000 to the upscale lingerie brand La Perla, giving the struggling company a financial lifeline.
With the bank’s deputy director general stating that its goal is to support businesses who have lost access to traditional finance but have the ability to remain in the market, it implies it can resume operations at its factory in Bologna. In this sense, it searches for businesses that it believes have significant assets, like the well-known global brand La Perla.
The company’s Italian manufacturing subsidiary, La Perla Manufacturing Srl, was granted the right to be placed under judicial administration by a Bologna court back in May.
Three months prior, the firm had been declared insolvent. Commissioners, akin to administrators in the UK, were designated to oversee the operation and secure possible investors to sustain the business and maintain employment.
That occurred following the departure of ultimate owner Tennor and the liquidation of the crucial La Perla Global Management UK unit, the British business in charge of the brand and its international assets. A judge had ordered its closure towards the end of last year due to unpaid tax debts.
This news comes as the lingerie brand announces a relaunch plan by opening stores globally. In four months, no less than 10 retail outlets have been inaugurated by the brand, from a flagship store in Seoul, to another in Barcelona, Houston, Miami and Chicago to new stores in Beijing and Sanya in China. Along with this the company is renovating another store in New York and has opened stores in Tuscany with another set to open in Hong Kong in October.
Since they generate about 80 per cent of the brand’s overall sales, the network of mono-brand stores serves as one of the group’s primary strategic vectors. La Perla has around 250 branded stores across the globe, with intentions to expand to 300.
