
Italian brand Twinset acquired by investment firms Borletti and Quadrivio
Italian fashion label Twinset—renowned for its romantic and contemporary womenswear—has officially been acquired by investment firms Borletti and Quadrivio, according to information confirmed by FashionNetwork.com. The deal, which had been the subject of speculation for weeks, was finalized with current owner Carlyle and represents a key milestone in the relaunch of the luxury womenswear brand. When contacted by FashionNetwork.com, the company declined to comment.
See catwalk
While the transaction had been expected, Carlyle's decision to divest from Twinset dates back to 2020, when it initially appointed JP Morgan to identify a potential buyer. The process was paused due to the pandemic and later resumed, with Rothschild stepping in to explore strategic options.
Carlyle had held a majority stake in Twinset since 2012, acquiring full ownership in 2017. Founded in 1987 by Simona Barbieri and Tiziano Sgarbi, the Carpi-based company underwent significant expansion under Carlyle's ownership, including international store openings and a broader product offering.
Today, Twinset operates over 100 standalone stores worldwide and ended 2024 with revenues exceeding €200 million. The Borletti Group—founded by the family that once owned La Rinascente and Printemps department stores—has made several notable luxury acquisitions, including Moorer, Zimmermann, and Canadian outerwear label Moose Knuckles.
Quadrivio Group is also active in the fashion sector. Through Made in Italy Fund I and II, the firm has invested in brands such as Autry, Filippo De Laurentiis, Pt Torino, 120% Lino, Dondup, GCDS, and Sessùn.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
How the Israel-Iran conflict is developing in cyberspace
As the conflict between Israel and Iran approaches the first-week mark, both countries are leaning into cyberspace to launch attacks. A possible Israeli-linked hacking group has claimed responsibility for disrupting operations at an Iranian bank and flooding the crypto market with approximately $90 million (€77 million) in stolen funds. Meanwhile, Israeli officials reported fake messages sent to the public alerting them of terrorist attacks against bomb shelters to sow panic. Both countries are also known for having a long history of cyberattacks against each other, according to US-based cybersecurity firm Radware. 'In the days since the fighting began, government-backed hackers, patriotic hacktivists, online propagandists, and opportunistic cybercriminals have all been active,' the company said in its threat alert dated June 18. The anti-Iranian hacking group with possible ties to Israel,Gonjeshke Darande, or 'Predatory Sparrow,' claimed an attack on one of Iran's most prominent banks, Bank Sepah, this week, according to a statement they published on X. Iranian media reported at the time that people had difficulties accessing their accounts, withdrawing cash or using their bank cards. The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Bank Sepah in 2018 for supporting Iran's military. The hacking group then went after Nobitex, one of Iran's main cryptocurrency exchanges. The group claimed they burned $90 million from accounts that belong to the Israeli regime and, by Thursday morning, had posted the source code for the platform. In a statement on X posted on Wednesday, Nobitex claimed that the assets were transferred to a wallet 'composed of arbitrary characters,' an approach they say 'deviates significantly from conventional crypto exchange hacks'. 'It is clear the intention behind this attack was to harm the peace of mind and assets of our fellow citizens under false pretences,' Nobitex wrote. Nobitex estimates the amount stolen is closer to $100 million (€87 million) The Iranian government has asked people to delete the social messaging app WhatsApp and has begun internet blackouts that have taken the country offline for 'over 12 hours' due to 'Israel's alleged 'misuse' of the network for military purposes,' according to internet monitoring companies Netblocks and Censys. Iran's Tasnim News Agency, a news service associated with the Iranian military, claimed the Internet blackouts are 'temporary' due to the 'special conditions of the country,' and that it will come back when the 'situation returns to normal'. Gonjeshke Darande has been linked to other cyber attacks in Iran, like the 2010 Stuxnet attack. Stuxnet was a computer virus that damaged or destroyed the centrifuges, a key component used to enrich uranium, at Iran's uranium enrichment facilities in Natanz, one of the facilities targeted in the recent missile fire from Israel. US media reports believe Stuxnet was carried out by Israel with support from the United States, who built the program. It's also believed that Israel's Defence Forces Unit 8200 was involved in the attack, according to Reuters. Gonjeshke Darande has also taken credit for other cyber attacks against Iran, such as the 2022 attack on Iran's steel plants and the 2023 attack on gas stations. At the time of the steel plant cyber attacks, Gonjeshke Darande released on social media what they called 'top secret documents and tens of thousands of emails' from Iran's three leading companies to show how the firms were working with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a primary branch of Iran's military. Israeli media reported people receiving fraudulent text messages claiming to come from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) Home Front Command that warned of attacks onbomb shelters. The messages from OREFAlert were identified as fake by the Israeli authorities, who claim pro-Iranian groups are behind it as a way to sow panic during the operation against the Iranian military, called Operation Rising Lion. Another fake message circulated that said fuel supplies would be suspended for 24 hours, according to the Jerusalem Post. Ron Meyran, the VP of Cyber Threat Intelligence at US-based cybersecurity firm Radware, told the newspaper that there was a 700 per cent increase in cyberattacks against Israel in the first two days of the conflict with Iran, which comes from cyber retaliation from Iranian state actors. Those actions include infiltration attempts targeting critical infrastructure, data theft and malware distribution, Meyran added. Euronews Next reached out to Radware to independently confirm these numbers but did not hear back at the time of publication. A report from Radware says it expects Iran to make use of 'its well-developed network of fake social media personas to shape perceptions of the conflict.' 'During this crisis, observers have seen pro-Iran bot accounts amplifying hashtags about alleged Israeli atrocities and portraying Iran's actions as defensive,' the report said. The bots 'frequently pose as ordinary citizens to make the messaging more persuasive,' it added. Radware also noted in its report that at least 60 of the 100 hacktivist groups that have sprung up since the start of the conflict last week are pro-Iran and are either from the Middle East or Asia. These groups have launched 30 denial of service (DDos) attacks per day against Israel that disrupt normal traffic to a website, Radware found. Some of these groups have also threatened cyber attacks against the United Kingdom and the United States if leadership there decides to 'join the war against Iran'. Iran has a 'considerable number' of state-sponsored threat groups that have targeted Israel in the past, like Muddy Water, APT35 (OilRig), APT35 (Charming Kitten) and APT39 (Remix Kitten), the Radware report continued. These groups, with the help of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have targeted Israeli infrastructure, conducted malware campaigns and cyberespionage according to local media. These cyber attacks increased following the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in 2023, according to a 2024 report by Microsoft. A SpaceX rocket being tested in Texas exploded Wednesday night, sending a dramatic fireball high into the sky. The company said the Starship 'experienced a major anomaly' at about 11 pm local time while on the test stand preparing for the tenth flight test at Starbase, SpaceX's launch site at the southern tip of Texas. 'A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,' SpaceX said in a statement on the social platform X. Elon Musk's company SpaceX said there were no hazards to nearby communities. It asked people not to try to approach the site. The company said it is working with local officials to respond to the explosion.


France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Swiss central bank cuts interest rates to zero percent
The SNB, however, held off a decision to return to its era of negative rates -- a policy that helped to curb the Swiss franc's rise but was unpopular among pension funds and other investors. The franc's movement is also under scrutiny in the United States, as the US Treasury Department added Switzerland to its watch list of countries likely to manipulate their currencies earlier this month. The SNB says its interventions in the foreign exchange market aim to ensure price stability, not unduly increase the Swiss economy's competitiveness. The Swiss currency is a safe haven investment that has climbed against the dollar since US President Donald Trump launched his tariff blitz in April. In Thursday's statement, the SNB -- which has denied manipulating the franc -- said it "remains willing to be active in the foreign exchange market as necessary". The SNB cited easing inflationary pressure in its decision to cut rates by a quarter point, but it also pointed to a gloomy economic forecast. "The global economic outlook for the coming quarters has deteriorated due to the increase in trade tensions," the central bank said, adding that the outlook for Switzerland remained uncertain. "Developments abroad continue to represent the main risk," it said, expecting growth in the global economy to weaken over the coming quarters. Cooling inflation The SNB said Swiss gross domestic product growth was strong in the first quarter of the year -- largely due to exports to the United States being brought forward ahead of Trump's tariff manoeuvres. But stripping that factor out, growth was more moderate, and is likely to slow again and remain subdued for the rest of the year, the SNB said. The SNB expects GDP growth of one percent to 1.5 percent for 2025, and for 2026 too. It said Swiss unemployment was likely to continue to rise slightly. The bank lowered its inflation forecast for 2025 from 0.4 percent to 0.2 percent, and for 2026 from 0.8 percent to 0.5 percent. The consumer price index even fell into negative territory in May, at minus 0.1 percent. Negative rates Between 2015 and 2022, the SNB's monetary policy was based on a negative interest rate of minus 0.75 percent -- which increased the cost of deposits held by banks and financial institutions relative to the amounts they were required to entrust to the central bank. Those seven years left a bitter memory for major savers, who bore the brunt in fees, while pension funds were forced into riskier investments. Negative rates make the Swiss franc less attractive to investors as it reduces returns on investments. Thursday's decision was widely expected by analysts. Adrian Prettejohn, Europe economist at the London-based research group Capital Economics, said the SNB is expected to move rates to negative 0.25 percent at its September meeting due to deflation. "There are also significant downside risks to inflation from trade tensions as well as heightened geopolitical uncertainty, which could push up the value of the franc further," he said. He said the central bank's language on currency interventions "supports our view that the SNB is not planning to use foreign exchange interventions as its main tool for loosening monetary policy anytime soon".


Euronews
5 hours ago
- Euronews
Swiss central bank cuts interest rate to zero to fight deflation
Switzerland's central bank (SNB) decided to lower its key interest rate to zero on Thursday as inflationary pressures have eased. The Swiss National Bank says its policy rate would drop to zero from 0.25%, after noting that nearly flat inflation nosed into negative territory in May. Consumer prices fell by an annual 0.1% in May. Many Western economic powers have been grappling with monetary policy at a time when price rises have eased in many places, but political instability and US tariffs are muddying economic predictions. The SNB attributed the drop in inflation in Switzerland primarily to declining prices in the tourism and oil sectors. It's now projecting annual inflation at 0.2% this year, before edging up to a half-point next year and 0.7% in 2027. That's based on a scenario that its target interest rate will remain at zero over that span. "In its baseline scenario, the SNB anticipates that growth in the global economy will weaken over the coming quarters," it said in a statement. "Inflation in the US is likely to rise over the coming quarters. In Europe, by contrast, a further decrease in inflationary pressure is to be expected." Switzerland enjoyed "strong" economic growth in the first quarter, the bank said, largely because exports to the United States were brought forward as companies sought to anticipate future US tariffs that could raise the price of foreign goods for American consumers. The US Federal Reserve kept its key rate unchanged Wednesday as it waits for additional information on how tariffs and other potential disruptions will affect the economy this year. US President Donald Trump has pressed the Fed to lower interest rates, hoping it will boost the US economy. Nippon Steel and US Steel said on Wednesday they have finalised their 'historic partnership', a deal that gives the US government a say in some business matters and comes a year-and-a-half after the Japanese company first proposed its nearly $15bn (€13bn) buyout of the iconic American steelmaker. The pursuit by Nippon Steel of the Pittsburgh-based company was buffeted by national security concerns and presidential politics in a premier battleground state, dragging out the transaction for more than a year after US Steel shareholders approved it. It also forced Nippon Steel to expand the deal, including adding a so-called 'golden share' provision that gives the federal government the power to appoint a board member and have a say in company decisions that affect domestic steel production and competition with overseas producers. 'Together, Nippon Steel and US Steel will be a world-leading steelmaker, with best-in-class technologies and manufacturing capabilities,' the companies said. The combined company will become the world's fourth-largest steelmaker in an industry dominated by the Chinese, and bring what analysts say is Nippon Steel's top-notch technology to US Steel's antiquated steelmaking processes, plus a commitment to invest $11bn (€9.6bn) to upgrade US Steel facilities. In exchange, Nippon Steel gets access to a robust US steel market, strengthened in recent years by tariffs under President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, analysts say. Anthony Rapa, a Blank Rome lawyer in Washington who advises firms on trade, operations and investments, said the government's intervention in the Nippon Steel-US Steel deal is another sign of a trend that the US is increasingly equating economic security with national security. He doesn't see the government's intervention as chilling foreign investment and said that using a 'golden share' mechanism to ease national security concerns is unlikely to happen frequently — only in sensitive and complex cases. Still, the episode could cause investors to be more strategic in how they approach transactions, Rapa said. Anil Khurana, executive director of the Baratta Center for Global Business at Georgetown University, said the US government's interest in the deal is a sign of the growing importance it places on economic competition with China. 'Clearly the definition of what is national security has expanded to include national economic security, which is where I think this comes in,' Khurana said. Nippon Steel and US Steel did not release a copy of the national security agreement struck with Trump's administration. But in a statement on Wednesday, the companies said the federal government will have the right to appoint an independent director and get 'consent rights' on specific matters. Those include reductions in Nippon Steel's capital commitments in the national security agreement; changing US Steel's name and headquarters; closing or idling US Steel's plants; transferring production or jobs outside of the US; buying competing businesses in the US; and certain decisions on trade, labour and sourcing outside the US. Nippon Steel announced in December 2023 that it planned to buy the steel producer for $14.9bn (€13bn) in cash and debt, and committed to keep the US Steel name and Pittsburgh headquarters. The United Steelworkers union, which represents some US Steel employees, opposed the deal, and Biden and Trump both vowed from the campaign trail to block it. Biden used his authority to block Nippon Steel's acquisition of US Steel on his way out of the White House after a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. After he was elected, Trump changed course, expressing openness to working out an arrangement and ordering another review by the committee. That's when the idea of the 'golden share' emerged as a way to resolve national security concerns and protect American interests in domestic steel production. As it sought to win over American officials, Nippon Steel began adding commitments. Those included putting US Steel under a board made up of a majority of Americans and a management team of Americans. It pledged not to conduct layoffs or plant closings as a result of the transaction or to import steel slabs to compete with US Steel's blast furnaces in Braddock, Pennsylvania and Gary, Indiana. In the final agreement, it pledged to produce and supply US Steel from domestic sources — such as mining operations in Minnesota — and to allow US Steel to pursue trade actions under US law. It also made a series of bigger capital commitments in US Steel facilities, tallying $11bn (€9.6bn) through 2028, it said. Nippon Steel said its annual crude steel production capacity is expected to reach 86mn tons, closer to its goal of 100mn tons. The United Steelworkers on Wednesday noted that its current labour agreement with US Steel expires in 2026. "Rest assured, if our job security, pensions, retiree health care or other hard-earned benefits are threatened, we are ready to respond with the full strength and solidarity of our membership," its international president, David McCall, said in a statement.