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  • 📈 Zozo Bags Lyst in Style Coup For $154m

📈 Zozo Bags Lyst in Style Coup For $154m

Prada Acquires Versace – Designer Drama Discounted!

April 11, 2025

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This is Cliff Equity, the UK’s business newsletter that keeps you informed on what’s important in tech, business and finance in less than 5 minutes

In today’s stories:

  • Zozo Bags Lyst in Style Coup For $154m

  • Prada Acquires Versace – Designer Drama Discounted!

  • Tesco’s £500m Cuts: A Trolley Full of Trouble

The summary: Zozo’s snapped up Lyst in a stylish tech-meets-fashion merger that promises smarter shopping, sharper sizing, and a global glow-up for your wardrobe.

The details:

  • From Knightsbridge to Nippon: Japan’s fashion behemoth Zozo has snapped up UK-based Lyst for a tidy $154 million—down from its swankier $700M valuation in 2021. A post-pandemic price tag with all the trimmings of a fashion reboot.

  • Lyst Still Has Its Swagger: Despite e-commerce chills, Lyst’s 160 million annual users and AI-powered trend-spotting still pack a punch. It’ll keep strutting its stuff under CEO Emma McFerran, now with Zozo’s tech toys and wallet in tow.

  • AI is the New Black: This isn’t just a wardrobe change—it’s a tech makeover. Expect smarter sizing, snazzier style suggestions, and fewer ill-fitting regrets, thanks to the duo’s shared obsession with fashion-meets-AI wizardry.

  • A Marriage of Data and Design: With Zozo’s global reach and Lyst’s savvy style search, the plan is clear: charm shoppers, out-tech rivals, and redefine online fashion—ideally without needing to queue at Selfridges ever again.

Why it matters: Zozo’s swoop for Lyst is the retail equivalent of a power couple getting hitched—glamour meets geek, with AI as the third wheel. It signals that fashion’s future isn’t just about looking good, but about algorithms knowing your waistline better than you do. And with two continents now stitched into one savvy platform, even your shopping habits are going global—whether you like it or not.

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The summary: Prada’s bagged Versace at a bargain, Capri’s cleared its debts with a stylish exit, and Italian fashion’s got a fresh new power duo strutting into the spotlight.

The details:

  • Bargain bin Versace? Prada’s snapped up its old Italian frenemy for €1.25bn – a tidy €180m discount after market jitters turned luxury fashion into a clearance aisle.

  • From red carpet to red ink: Capri Holdings, weighed down by failed megamergers and hefty debt, offloaded Versace after its American luxury dreams got the FTC axe.

  • Donatella steps aside (ish): After 27 years at the helm, Versace swaps the sketchpad for the spotlight, becoming chief brand ambassador while Miu Miu’s ex-image guru takes the design reins.

  • Prada’s power play: With revenues up 17% and Miu Miu flying high, Prada’s hoping Versace adds more glitter (and less drama) to its growing Made in Italy empire.

Why it matters: Prada’s cheeky discount on Versace shows even high fashion isn’t immune to market meltdowns – couture now comes with coupons. Capri’s fire sale hints at cracks in the American luxury dream, while Prada sharpens its stilettos to stomp harder on the global catwalk. And with Donatella now the brand’s fairy godmother rather than its queen, the Versace show must go on – just with a new ringmaster.

The summary: Tesco’s slashing costs, battling tax hikes, and duking it out in the price war, all while hoping its market share growth can keep the tills ringing and investors happy!

The details:

  • Tesco’s cutting costs – again – Another £500m in cuts is on the chopping block to help absorb Rachel Reeves’s tax hikes and gear up for the supermarket price skirmish.

  • Profits down, costs up – Annual pre-tax profits dipped 3.2% while Tesco braces for more belt-tightening this year, thanks to rising National Insurance bills and rivals swinging price swords.

  • More savings, more staff (for now) – Despite warnings of job risks, Tesco says it’s ending the year with more employees – though admits no one’s job is completely safe when the budget axe is out.

  • Sales up, shares down – While shoppers kept tills ringing with £63.6bn in sales, shareholders weren’t feeling the love, as shares slid after gloomy forecasts. Every little helps – but not the share price.

Why it matters: Tesco’s trying to juggle rising taxes, falling profits, and a supermarket price war without dropping the till. Shoppers might win with lower prices (hooray), but behind the scenes it’s a tightrope act of cost cuts and cautious job talk. Meanwhile, investors are clutching their receipts, wondering if Britain’s biggest grocer can keep its basket full without tipping over.