March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Gianni Versace SpA, the Italian fashion house named after its founder, may sell shares to fund expansion rather than link with luxury-goods makers or a buyout firm, Creative Director and co-owner Donatella Versace said.

``A stock-market listing was a dream of Gianni's,'' she said in an interview in Milan yesterday. ``We are trying very hard to stay independent. We aren't looking for a partnership.''

Versace, 50, also said that the company started by her brother in 1978 expects to become profitable in 2007 after a two-year reorganization. She owns 20 percent of the clothing and accessories maker, which narrowed its loss to 15 million euros ($18 million) in 2005 and slashed debt to one-sixth of what it was the previous year.

The company isn't planning any financial transactions involving its share capital, according to external financial spokesman Federico Steiner.

Under Chief Executive Officer Giancarlo Di Risio, 50, Gianni Versace has sold eyewear and perfume units and replaced them with licenses from companies including Timex Watches Ltd. It's also bolstered management by hiring executives for each of the company's divisions and expanding the design team. Gianni Versace plans to open stores in Hong Kong and Tokyo as Asian markets expand.

Brand Focus

``We have worked very hard to restructure, to clean things up and to focus on raising and expanding the Versace brand,'' said Versace, who also is vice president of the company's board.

Donatella Versace and her brother Santo have run the design house since Gianni Versace was murdered in Miami in 1997.

Santo, 61, president of the board, controls a 30 percent holding. Allegra Versace Beck, Donatella's 19-year-old daughter, owns a 50 percent stake inherited from her uncle. The Versace family owns the fashion house through GV Holding SpA.

Allegra, who is attending Brown University in the U.S., has appointed Milan lawyer Michele Carpinelli from Studio Chiomenti as her adviser with power to vote her shares independently from her mother.

Gianni Versace is opening stores in China and aims to increase revenue from accessories to 30 percent of the total from 4 percent. It's introducing Club and Manhattan handbags and limited-edition bags featuring the fashion house's Medusa monogram and Milan address, Via Gesu 12, inscribed in gold for as much as 1,300 euros.

The company had sales of about 300 million euros last year, according to Di Risio, who joined 18 months ago. Its debt is about 20 million euros.

An ACNielsen poll published last month ranked Versace as the third-most-desired brand in the world after Giorgio Armani and Gucci. More than a quarter of 21,000 online consumers in 42 countries said they would buy Versace goods if money weren't an issue. Actresses Uma Thurman and Hilary Swank wore the company's fashions at the Academy Awards earlier this month.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sara Gay Forden in Milan at sforden@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 22, 2006 12:49 EST