Michael Kors set to snap up Versace in £1.5bn swoop

VERSACE is about to be sold for £1.5bn.

The Italian fashion house, set up 40 years ago by Gianni Versace who was murdered outside his Miami mansion in 1997, is on the verge of being bought by US rival Michael Kors.

The company is still 80pc owned by the Versace family, including artistic director Donatella Versace (pictured with models Claudia Sc hi ff er and Naomi Campbell). The 63-year-old is expected to tell staff of the sale at a meeting in Milan today. Michael Kors expanded beyond its eponymous brand last year after buying shoe brand Jimmy Choo for £896m, a move that has already had a positive effect on the company’s earnings.

A sale of Versace would mark a turning point in the brand’s history. Founded in 1978, at the time of Gianni Versace’s death it had been making plans for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, but it has remained private ever since.

Rumours of an initial public offering have resurfaced since the company sold a 20pc stake to private equity group Blackstone in 2014.

A spokesman for Versace declined to comment last night.