Brands
Prada bags Versace in £1.3bn deal, sewing up a new era in Italian luxury
MILAN: In a move that stitched the fashion world into a frenzy, Prada just made its most glamorous purchase yet.
The Italian luxury major has officially acquired its long-coveted rival Versace for about €1.3 billion, sealing one of the most significant shake-ups in high fashion in recent years. The deal comes after Capri Holdings’ planned sale to Tapestry collapsed under antitrust scrutiny, clearing the runway for Prada to step back in.
Founded in 1978 by the legendary Gianni Versace, the house known for its maximalist glamour now joins Prada’s expanding stable, which includes the flagship Prada label and the rapidly rising Miu Miu. The acquisition marks a strategic pivot for the group as it moves decisively into multi-brand territory.
Donatella Versace, who helmed the brand creatively for nearly three decades before stepping down earlier this year, commemorated the moment with a poignant tribute on Instagram. The deal closed on what would have been Gianni Versace’s birthday.
“Today is your day… I’m thinking of the smile you would have had on your face,” she wrote. Gianni was tragically killed in Miami in 1997.
Lorenzo Bertelli, who will become executive chairman of Versace once the integration is complete, told Reuters the house had been on Prada’s radar for years.
“There had already been contacts during COVID… When the Capri–Tapestry deal fell through, we moved quickly,” he said. For Bertelli, the decision checked two crucial boxes: the financial risk was acceptable and Versace’s global brand power made the acquisition unquestionably worthwhile.
The creative baton at Versace has already changed hands, with Dario Vitale, previously design director at Miu Miu, stepping in after Donatella’s exit in March.
Brands
Rakesh Menon joins Paytm as avp – lending
Fintech product leader takes on new role after building digital lending, payments and credit products across fintech ecosystem
MUMBAI: Rakesh Menon has joined Paytm as assistant vice president – lending, taking on a new role focused on strengthening the company’s lending and credit products.
Prior to this, Menon worked at Profectus Capital Pvt Ltd as chief manager – payments based financing and digital lending.
At Profectus, he designed and launched digital credit products for merchants with variable cash flows, including overdraft-linked and revenue-share lending models. He led end-to-end LOS–LMS API integrations with payment partners and aggregators, enabling real-time underwriting, disbursal and repayment workflows.
He also worked on funnel optimisation initiatives using journey analytics, improving onboarding, KYC and disbursal conversion by 35 per cent. He developed ecosystem partnerships for transaction-data-based credit assessment and automated settlement systems, and collaborated with credit and data science teams to strengthen risk models and early delinquency detection.
Menon standardised partner onboarding and API frameworks, reducing go-live timelines by 40 per cent and improving digital scalability.
Before Profectus Capital, he worked at PayU as senior manager – presales lead – enterprise business from August 2022 to August 2023. He set up a national presales function for fintech and digital commerce clients, aligning solutions such as EMI, BNPL, BBPS and offer engines to merchant requirements.
He also helped improve conversion rates by around 15 per cent through merchant persona mapping, demo frameworks and structured sales playbooks, working closely with product and go-to-market teams.
From April 2019 to July 2022, Menon served as business unit head – SMB – direct acquisitions at Worldline, where he built the SMB online payments vertical from scratch. The business scaled to Rs 2,500 crore in annual transaction volume, growing at 45 per cent year-on-year.
During this period, he introduced paperless onboarding processes including eKYC and eSign, developed partner dashboards and CRM automation systems, and integrated platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Tally to expand merchant adoption.
Across roles, Menon has worked across digital lending, payments and merchant financing, with experience in product development, ecosystem partnerships, API integrations and fintech-led growth strategies.
At Paytm, he will focus on scaling lending products and strengthening digital credit infrastructure within the company’s financial services ecosystem.
His appointment comes as fintech firms continue to expand their lending and embedded finance offerings in a competitive market.
