Carlyle Pauses Luxury Bets After Making a Killing on Golden Goose
Private equity is retreating from the high-end consumer market as shoppers cut back. It’s bad news for an industry that’s been a rare success for Europe.
Jewel-encrusted sneakers at a Golden Goose store in London.
Photographer: Jason Alden/BloombergIt was only last year that Marco De Benedetti, the Carlyle Group Inc. partner behind its winning wager on Moncler SpA, was saying he spied opportunities for more knockout deals in Europe’s luxury-goods market.
Spin forward to today, however, and the private equity giant has paused its investments in the continent’s consumer companies, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Moncler, a Milan-based maker of expensive padded jackets, was a lucrative hit, more than quadrupling the firm’s money. It’s getting harder to repeat the trick.