What Giorgio Armani's will envisions, the empire at the Foundation: a sale or stock market listing in the future

With the passing of its founder, the Giorgio Armani company could at least partially end up in foreign hands .

This is what is stated in the two wills drawn up by the Piacenza-born designer, the "king of fashion," who passed away on September 4th at the age of 91.

The empire built over 50 years by Armani, as had emerged in the hours following the passing of the group's founder, will be managed by the Giorgio Armani Foundation , which the designer had specifically created in recent years.

Specifically, the Foundation will own 100 percent of the shares of the Giorgio Armani Spa Group: specifically, full ownership of 9.9% and "bare ownership" of the remaining 90%. As AdnKronos explains, the latter portion is subject to a usufruct right assigned to Pantaleo Dell'Orco , the designer's right-hand man and his partner, Armani's nephews and nieces , and his sister Rosanna.

Pantaleo Dell'Orco will therefore have a usufruct right on 30% of the company's shares and 40% of the voting rights. His grandchildren, Silvana Armani and Andrea Camerana, will have 15% voting rights, while the Foundation will have 30% voting rights. Dell'Orco will therefore hold the relative majority of the voting rights.

His partner Dell'Orco will also receive 40% of Armani's shares in EssilorLuxottica , the Italian-French company leader in the world of glasses and lenses, of which the designer held approximately 2%, while the remaining 60 percent will be allocated to his family.

The issue of the group's sale will then be implemented through a two-phase process . The Giorgio Armani Foundation will have the responsibility to "secure, with priority," a 15% stake in the company's capital to one of the LVMH Group , the EssilorLuxottica Group , or the L'Oréal Group, within 12 months and 18 months of the date of the opening of the succession process. "Beginning from the third year and within the fifth year of the opening of the succession process," it will also have to sell an additional shareholding to the same 15% buyer "for a minimum of 30%" of the capital and a maximum of 54.9%, or, alternatively, decide on "the listing of the company on a regulated market."

The next step, if these conditions are not met, involves listing on the stock exchange . Here too, there is a specific timeframe: no earlier than the third year after the opening of the succession, approximately the fifth, and in any case no later than the eighth year after the opening of the succession.