Puma sets up new unit as it hunts for acquisitions
PUMA’S chief executive Jochen Zeitz will head a new “sports and lifestyle” division at parent company PPR, the French luxury goods and retail conglomerate said yesterday.
Zeitz will also become executive chairman at Puma and oversee the search for a new chief executive for the company. And PPR said it will continue to hunt for acquisitions.
Puma new board will also include François-Henri Pinault, PPR’s chairman and chief executive, who is currently Puma’s supervisory board chairman.
“The sport and lifestyle division will be, in my view, more important in size, in turnover, because we are operating in mass-market segments, but not in terms of profit,” Pinault said.
PPR, which also owns the Yves Saint Laurent fashion brand and the Gucci group, saw its shares drop 2.8 per cent to €116 (£102) on the Paris stock exchange.