The encyclopedia · Finance & Accounting · Financial decision · 2024
La Perla, Italy's lingerie icon, split between a UK holding and a Bologna factory
A luxury lingerie brand's structure tore it apart: the UK holding owed taxes, the Italian factory was insolvent, and two courts fought over the remains.
La Perla · 2024-01
What happened
La Perla was founded in Bologna in 1954 by couturière Ada Masotti and became one of Italy's most recognized luxury lingerie brands. By the 2020s, its corporate structure had been split across a UK-based holding company, La Perla Global Management UK, and an Italian manufacturing subsidiary, La Perla Manufacturing Srl, with the Bologna factory as its production base.
The structure became a liability when the UK holding company faced liquidation over unpaid tax debts. On January 23, 2024, the Court of Bologna opened judicial liquidation proceedings against the UK entity and declared the Italian manufacturing arm insolvent, appointing three court commissioners to manage the process. The cross-border insolvency set five legal precedents as Italian and UK courts navigated competing claims.
The Bologna court's intervention aimed to protect the factory and its approximately 200 workers from being sold off in the UK proceedings. US billionaire Peter Kern, former Expedia CEO, ultimately acquired La Perla's key assets for €25 million and committed to investing €30 million through 2027, restarting Bologna production. The brand survived, but only after a court-supervised restructuring that exposed the fragility of splitting heritage manufacturing from an offshore holding.
Why it happened
- Splitting a heritage Italian manufacturer from a UK holding company created a cross-border insolvency that neither jurisdiction's courts were designed to handle cleanly.
- The UK holding's unpaid tax debts triggered liquidation proceedings that threatened the Italian factory, which had no control over the holding's financial decisions.
- Successive ownership changes left the brand without a stable strategic owner willing to invest in the Bologna production base.
- The luxury lingerie market's shift toward direct-to-consumer and athleisure eroded the wholesale model La Perla depended on.
The lesson
Separating heritage manufacturing from an offshore holding creates a single point of failure: when the holding's debts come due, the factory pays the price.
Aftermath
Peter Kern acquired La Perla's assets for €25 million and committed €30 million in investment through 2027. Bologna production restarted with approximately 200 workers re-employed. The cross-border insolvency set five legal precedents in Italian and UK courts.
Sources
- 华丽志 Luxe.co — La Perla Bologna court administration (2024)
- Luxus Plus — Lingerie: La Perla saved, reinstates all its workers
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