Rumors concerning Roberto Cavalli potential majority stake sale continue to circulate

After discussions concerning a potential majority stake sale

between private equity firm Permira and Italian designer Roberto Cavalli came to an abrupt halt last month, new rumors have been circulating concerning a number of potential investors.

Last week Reuters reported that investment firm Investcorp had been approached as a possible buyer for stake in the fashion company. However, according to sources, talks between the Bahrain-based Investcorp and Cavalli are still at a preliminary stage.

On Friday, Bloomberg reported that a group of investors led by Swiss watchmaker Franck Muller, were interested in purchasing between 60 to 70 percent of the Italian fashion house and are prepared to offer over 300 million euros. Previous discussions between Permira and Cavallo valued the eponymous fashion company at nearly 450 million euros.

Other source have revealed to WWD that the Italian designer takes phone calls from potential investors on a daily basis, but has yet to decided whether or not he wished to sell a majority stake in his fashion company. The potential sale would not be the first of its kind to come to light; six years ago Cavalli was close to selling a minority stake (30 percent) to private equity firm Clessidra before the agreement was dropped due to a disagreement over price.