LVMH To Sell Donna Karan In $650m Deal

The luxury label giant Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) is selling the Donna Karan brand to G-III Apparel Group in a deal worth $650m (£495m).

The world's biggest luxury conglomerate is behind some of the best-known and most expensive global labels, including Louis Vuitton, Dom Perignon, Bulgari and Dior.

In its 30-year history this is only the second brand LVMH has sold - the first was Christian Lacroix in 2005.

G-III Apparel Group is a New York-based manufacturing and licensing company, which owns luxury swimwear brand Vilebrequin and holds the licences to make clothes for Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Ivanka Trump.

The deal comes a year after Donna Karan retired from her eponymous label and LVMH announced it was suspending runway collections for the high-end Donna Karan line to focus on the lower priced DKNY label.

Toni Belloni, LVMH group managing director, said: "Donna Karan has a deep heritage, global recognition, and renewed energy.

"We believe the DKNY brand has a dynamic position in the market, and when G-III approached us about acquiring the brand, we concluded that the time was right and that G-III was the right steward going forward."

The deal is expected to close late this year or early 2017 and G-III, which is funding the deal with a series of loans, says it expects it to hit its profits in the financial year to January 2018.

Morris Goldfarb, chairman, chief executive, and president of G-III, said: "Donna Karan is an iconic global fashion company. Its lifestyle aesthetic resonates well with consumers throughout the world.

"We are excited to build upon its strong foundation as we seek to capitalize on a significant market opportunity. Donna Karan brings increased scale and diversification ... We believe we are well positioned to create and sustain additional value for our shareholders, partners, and customers (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) ."