⁍ The family owners of Italian fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo have held informal talks with financial investors to sell a minority stake.

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⁍ A spokeswoman for the company denied that the Ferragamo family planned to sell the stake.

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⁍ The sources told Reuters that the family is still in the preliminary stages of testing market appetite.

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– The family owners of Italian fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo are looking to sell a minority stake in the company, which saw its revenues plunge 60% in the second quarter, sources tell Reuters. The company’s chairman, Ferruccio Ferragamo, son of late founder Salvatore, held the talks some time after the summer, offering about a 20% stake in the holding vehicle that controls the Milan-listed business, banking and private equity sources said on condition of anonymity, as the matter is confidential. A spokeswoman for the company—which has a market value of $2.4 billion—denies that the Ferragamo family planned to sell the stake. The sources told Reuters that the family is still in the preliminary stages of testing market appetite, and that a deal might face resistance from investors since the family is not willing to give away any governance control. Shares in Ferragamo were up 11% at 1428 GMT and were automatically halted from trading after Reuters first reported on the talks. The Florentine leather goods brand saw its revenues plunge 60% in the second quarter, piling pressure on its family members—who control an overall 65%—to turn around the business. “They have been calling around for a few months, targeting both private equity investors and sovereign wealth funds for a minority deal,” one of the sources said. A stake sale to deep-pocketed financial investors would help resolve internal disagreements over the company’s turnaround strategy, allowing some of its family members to cash out. However, the Ferragamo family is not willing to give away any governance control, the sources said.