Poltrona Frau, the historic and prestigious brand of Italian design and furniture, as well as a symbol of the "Made in Italy" in the world, has just become a bit less Italian.
Charme Investments, the holding company owned by Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, and Italian investor Franco Moschini are selling their stakes to the family-owned U.S. group Haworth Inc., a design company based in Michigan.
Haworth has agreed to buy a 59% stake for around EUR200 million ($270 million), it said Wednesday, in a joint statement with the Italian furniture maker.
Poltrona Frau said the deal should bolster production levels at its Italian factories.
Founded in Turin, Poltrona Frau designs chairs that are both modern and contemporary, using leather on most of their products. The company has designed interiors for Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Infiniti. Poltrona Frau leather is also used by Audi, Bugatti, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, Maserati, Lexus, Mini Cooper, and Fiat 500.
