Versace to sell stake in fashion house

Italian fashion house Versace is expected to put up

to one third of it's company stake on sale in a bid to secure further investment.

Versace has appointed private equity firms to make bids, however any new shareholder will have to make do with the Versace family, who are still largely active in both its creative and business operations.

Versace is one of the last independent Italian luxury brands and according to the Financial Times bids could top 850 million euros, as the company aims to go public by 2017.

Versace appointed Goldman Sachs and Intesa Sanpaolo in April to look for new shareholders to inject capital into the business to fund a push into Asia and Latin America.

Donatella Versace, who has been at the helm of the brand since the death of Gianni Versace in 1997, along with her family is thought to sell less than a third of its shares.

The company hopes to secure 150 million to fund expansion.