2023-12-19 17:05:31
After months of study and reflection, the two parties officially announce that they have finalized their negotiation with a view to acquiring a majority stake for this investment fund in the internationally renowned gallery.
The suspense had been brewing since last June. With perfectly controlled timing, Emmanuel Perrotin then chose to announce the sale of 60% of his gallery to the Colony Investment Management fund, on the eve of the opening of the major Swiss modern and contemporary art fair. This announcement of the majority entry of an investor into the capital of a gallery had the effect of a bomb. It marked a change of era and above all, the irresistible financialization of the art market, essential to grow and remain in international competition.
After summer, no more news war! Nor even during Paris + by Art Basel in October, at the Grand Palais Ephémère or, more recently, at Art Basel Miami, at the beginning of December where Emmanuel Perrotin was there on his stand but avoiding any discussion. Enough to wonder about the outcome of discussions with Colony IM, owned by Nadra Moussalem, the former owner of PSG and ex-shareholder of Carrefour and Accor. Negotiations with this fund specializing in real estate, credit and private equity were visibly underway, with secrecy in the business world. These took a long time to come to fruition because Perrotin, initially a French gallery, has become an international brand, with nearly ten brands on three continents but also editions and a number of derivative products.
The amount of the transaction kept secret
The empire of this 55-year-old businessman, who started from nothing, now extends from Paris to New York, via Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and Los Angeles. It includes an army of more than 160 employees, to whom it delegates largely but which remains under its permanent control. Emmanuel Perrotin is the first and undoubtedly the only one to have developed high-performance software allowing you to know in real time the status of your stock and sales, in all the countries where it is established. But about his turnover, he remains little talkative. The amount of the transaction with Colony was not disclosed. The scenarios are going well on the profitability of the Perrotin brand and its net profits, taking into account the mass of its investments throughout the world, between production of works, support for artists, exhibitions, participation in fairs, more about twenty per year.
In a press release published Tuesday morning, we officially learned that “At the end of a period of exclusive negotiations, Colony IM and Perrotin announce that they have concluded the terms of the transaction allowing Colony IM to become a majority shareholder of 60% of Perrotin. This historic rapprochement between art and finance, Emmanuel Perrotin had desired and provoked, by throwing a ball into the sea, at the end of 2022, during the opening of his gallery in Dubai, where the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami was in the spotlight. This entry into the capital will allow it to have more substantial resources and the necessary organization to address the new global challenges of the sector. He wishes to continue to grow his brand according to a vision closer to the business manager than to the classic gallery owner, like multinationals like Gagosian or Hauser & Wirth.
Even if he will no longer have a completely free hand, this new impetus will make it possible to strengthen the expertise developed over more than thirty years by Emmanuel Perrotin and to create new ones, in the service of exceptional projects. The press release concludes that “Emmanuel Perrotin, President of Perrotin, and Nadra Moussalem, CEO of Colony IM, are delighted with this agreement and will work in close coordination, with the assistance of all their teams, to support the development of the gallery across the world“. Emmanuel Perrotin does not wish to speak at the moment but will tell us more at the start of the year, in January.
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