Daily Front Row

2012 December 10

PPR Invests In Luxe Chinese Jewelry Label Qeelin

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Salma Hayek and PPR CEO François-Henri Pinault
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(NEW YORK) PPR's latest means of adding to its roster of hard luxury holdings? A majority-stake acquisition of Chinese jewelry brand Qeelin. While the terms will not be finalized until January, the deal coincides with the French luxury conglomerate's recent focus on small brands with large potential, plus an emphasis on adding more bauble and watch brands to its set of labels, which currently include Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, and Alexander McQueen. Qeelin will be the first Asian brand under PPR's control; the label's M.O. melds Chinese symbols of the superstitious, mystical varieties with meticulous French standards of craftsmanship. 

Qeelin was founded in 2004 by Chinese designer Dennis Chan and French entrepreneur Guillaume Brochard. For context on the scope of the deal, Bottega Veneta was worth approximately $44 million when the Italian label was picked up by PPR in 2001—bearing the same value, roughly, as Qeelin holds today. As a result of today’s acquisition, the deal’s enterprise value is just under $97 million. Currently, Qeelin operates 14 boutiques in China, Hong Kong, and Europe.