Folli mandates financial advisers to look into sale of UK unit

Greek jewellery maker Folli Follie has mandated Deloitte and Savigny Partners to look into the possible sale of its UK-based jeweller Links of London, it said on Monday.

Folli has been in turmoil since a hedge fund report in May last year questioned its accounting. The results of an audit last month showed that Folli overstated its 2017 revenue by more than 1 billion euros and the jeweller presented an alternative restructuring proposal for creditors after a previous one collapsed.

The shares have been suspended since, Folli has been fined by Greece’s securities watchdog and founder Dimitris Koutsolioutsos has resigned. Koutsolioutsos owns a 35 percent stake in Folli, while China’s Fosun holds 16 percent, Refinitiv Eikon data has shown.

Folli said on Monday that Deloitte and Savigny Partners’ mandate is to investigate an option to sell Links of London which “remains in the process of a turnaround plan that the company continues to support”.

Folli acquired Links of London in 2006. According to Folli’s 2016 annual report, Links had over 130 outlets in Europe, Asia and the Americas. 

[Reuters]