Five Things Friday EU Edition Petit Bateau → Regent, Kering–Valentino 2028, EU Retail Media Shake‑Up

Kering pushes Valentino buyout to 2028, Armani’s will lays out a staged sale/IPO, Petit Bateau heads to Regent, and Valiuz × Infinity create a European retail media leader—plus Qijco adds repairs to the “Vinted of DIY.”

Kering defers the full Valentino acquisition to 2028 as debt pressure bites; Giorgio Armani’s will instructs heirs to sell a first stake and later a controlling tranche or pursue an IPO; Groupe Rocher selects Regent to acquire Petit Bateau; and a major alliance—Valiuz × Infinity Advertising—emerges to form a European retail media leader. We also spotlight Qijco, the Belgian “Vinted of DIY,” adding repair services to resale and rentals.

Stories & sources
• Kering–Valentino delay (Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/kering-delays-full-valentino-acquisition-2028-amid-debt-concerns-2025-09-10/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• Armani’s will (Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/giorgio-armanis-will-instructs-gradually-sell-fashion-brand-or-seek-ipo-document-2025-09-12/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• Petit Bateau → Regent (FashionNetwork): https://www.fashionnetwork.com/news/Groupe-rocher-selects-regent-to-acquire-petit-bateau,1760833.html
• Retail Media alliance (Groupement Les Mousquetaires press release): https://www.mousquetaires.com/communique/valiuz-et-infinity-advertising-sunissent-pour-creer-le-leader-europeen-du-retail-media/

Additional context
• Qijco (“Vinted of DIY”) adds repairs to resale/rentals (FR coverage):
– eCommerceMag: https://www.ecommercemag.fr/Thematique/retail-1220/veille-internationale-2170/Breves/qijco-vinted-bricolage-etend-marketplace-service-reparation-outils-485086.htm
– Zepros Habitat: https://habitat.zepros.fr/actus/qijco-marketplace-brico-jardin-produits-occasion-location-desormais-prestations

Copyright & fair use
All linked articles are © their respective publishers and are referenced here for news reporting, commentary, and attribution. Please read the originals for full context.

• 00:00 — Intro & NRF Europe week

• 01:15 — Qijco: the “Vinted of DIY” adds repairs (BE/FR)

• 05:48 — Kering–Valentino deal deferred to 2028 (Reuters)

• 06:31 — Petit Bateau: Groupe Rocher selects Regent (FashionNetwork)

• 09:32 — Armani’s will: staged sale or IPO path (Reuters)

• 11:13 — Retail Media: Valiuz × Infinity Advertising (press release)

• 13:54 — Wrap

• Episode type: Full

• Author/Artist: The Retail Podcast

• Language: English

• Luxury consolidation pressure: Kering’s delay and Armani’s succession terms point to valuation resets and capital discipline across European luxury in 2025–2029. Reuters+1

• Iconic brands under new ownership: Petit Bateau’s path with Regent mirrors the “heritage brand + global scale-up capital” pattern; execution will determine whether heritage becomes international growth or dilution. FashionNetwork+1

• Retail media scale: Valiuz × Infinity Advertising expands reach across 10,000+ stores in six countries, raising the bar on first‑party retail audience activation in Europe.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, It's Friday. We're focused on Europe.
Welcome to five things. EU edition.
Alex, how are you? I'm good, thank you.

(00:21):
Excited about NRA Europe next? Only only a few days until we're
all going to be congregated in your home country beasting your
fabulous cuisine, your awful traffic.
I don't know what the weather isgoing to be like.
Last year the weather was fantastic.
I don't know what the weather isgoing to be like, but anyway,
only two days left or three daysleft when you you said you're

(00:41):
coming out on what they. Wednesday and Thursday.
OK, well, I, I'm so excited. I'm going to be there from
Monday. Wow.
Yeah. I'm really excited, but it's
looking too, but it's going to be a fantastic event.
With that, let's let's get straight into this and I think
you've got a fantastic new storyto kick us off.
Yes. So actually I'm going to start

(01:02):
this one with the question for you, Alex.
OK. Have you ever shocked for a
second hand DIY items online negative in Ted or marketplace.
No, and I buy a lot of tools andI buy them new.
Oh, well, so that's, that's a good, it's a good moment to
switch. Yeah, because I'm going to talk
about the new retailer called Kishko.

(01:24):
I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing it right, but it's also called
The Vintage of DIY. The company started in Belgium
and has been active in France for about a year now.
So this is a platform that connects individuals and
professionals to buy, sell or rentals, including building
materials, gardening equipment and even home appliances,

(01:46):
whether new or second hand. And what?
The reason why I chose this article today is because they
are going one step further with adding a new service, which is a
repair service. So user can not only now resell
or rent the DIY equipment but also have it repaired.
So it could be done either by users or by professionals as

(02:10):
well, which is very interesting.I think it's it's a great
additional way to give equipmenta second life and to strengthen
the the circular economy and theDIY and home renovation sector.
So let's. I love it and I think it's, and
I've heard this before because alot of the times people have
said, you know, most of the timewhen you buy one of these,

(02:31):
imagine a drill, you use it onceand then it's sat in your garage
or in your whatever, you keep your garage.
So wherever you keep your tools.And so I think for a younger
generation that doesn't potentially want to go and spend
large amounts of money on DIY equipment, it makes it makes so
much sense. I will.

(02:51):
I will investigate. Yeah.
Please do stop by you, yeah. Exactly, you love DIY and you do
this every weekend. I.
Don't love DIY, my wife loves DIY.
I am just a worker so I have allof the tools, everything.
I wouldn't want a laser straightening thing which is
amazing for when you're putting shelves up anyway.

(03:12):
This is not the DIY shows. You're a lucky man.
And the company, sorry, just sayit's it's it was founded by the
entrepreneur, Brussels based Marin Emery.
This company was born out of thesharp rise in construction
material costs since 2020. And so the way it works is that

(03:32):
sellers can list items for free and buyers or renters pay a 5%
Commission with the option as well to meet face to face in
order to avoid these fees. They also have a mobile app to
make things easier and they haveplans to roll out their services
across Europe. So really excited to see how how

(03:53):
it's going to roll out in in thefuture.
I might do this right because I'm looking at this and thinking
in in like 4 or five rentals I've paid for the for the drill
might be a little little good enterprise for me.
Yes, if the retail podcast doesn't work out, I'll go into
hiring Halo moving on caring. So caring delay, delay.
Reuters are reporting that Caring delays full value 17, our

(04:16):
acquisition to 28 amongst their depth concerns, which in the
world of luxury we're seeing a lot of transformation due to the
pressure from the consumer, due to the pressure from other weak
market and the Chinese shoppers slowing down in its consumption
of European luxury brands. And Caring are the owners of a

(04:40):
Gucci which has been suffering recently.
And as you can see, Reuters reporting that Caring debt
stands at €9.5 billion, impacting its acquisition pans.
So I don't think they've called it off.
They've just said that they're going to put it back as I think
they need to look at their financing and how they get
things in shape. But Caring is a huge, huge

(05:02):
luxury house with lots of luxurybrands and I, and I don't know
if this is a shape of things to come.
Are we moving into an era where the luxury market is reshaping
and reforming? Maybe we are.
Maybe we are moving on. So this next topic is about a
brand that you you may know called Betty Bato.

(05:25):
It's a famous French children's family clothing brand founded in
1920. And it was just bought by the
American investment group Regent, which also owns Dim, the
French underwear brand. And this is part of a wider
trend in France lately, where iconic French brands like, for

(05:47):
example, new pyromba or even Dolipan, the, the the medicine
have ended up under foreign ownership.
And this is the case of petty battle now.
So what is going to happen to them now?
So they will still have their factory and logistics sites in
France, in Trois, more precisely, Trois is a city in

(06:11):
northeast France and most of itsemployees will remain in France.
And sales hopefully will grow slightly thanks to the the
e-commerce. But now, now the biggest
decisions will be made abroad, and even though the brand stays
French in its heart and being owned by an American group could

(06:34):
change its strategy and identityover time.
So I'm very curious about what'sgonna happen.
But on the other hand, I don't think a foreign ownership is
always bad because the Tibeto could have struggled or even
disappeared if no one came in. So it now has a chance to

(06:56):
explain globally while staying abit of the French brand,
hopefully. Yeah, I think it's a, it's a
model that we've seen in CPG, right, where brands that have
exist, I mean, they they startedin 1893.
So I mean it's an incredible story.
And obviously it gets to a pointwhere they are probably
fantastically ready for global expansion because of the

(07:19):
heritage they've got that they just probably don't have the
money and so be interesting to watch.
I think when it's done right, it's great for the brand, it's
great for the investors, but youknow, I it depends on how it's
executed to do what comes in. That story is on the Fashion
network just in case you're watching this and you can see.
So please I'll put the links in the show notes.

(07:40):
Go to the Fashion Network for the full story.
Staying with Reuters again and luxury, Giorgio Armani will
instruct to gradually sell fashion brand or seat an IPO.
Now it's interesting why they'redoing this at this time in terms
of the what's happening as as wejust said with the the story,

(08:03):
but with the late fashion designjournal instructing is as to
sell 15% stake in the Italian fashion house. 18 months later
transferred an additional still and you can you can sit here
additional 30% to 54% to the same buyer between three and
five years after his death, according to the will revoke.

(08:24):
I'm sorry, reviewed by Reuters and it's an alternative to the
initial public offering, which II I'm not a fashion connoisseur,
so I can't talk about how relevant Giorgio Armani is
beyond its traditional where it's done really well.
And again, is this a brand that we've seen that could

(08:45):
potentially sort a new heights or is this a brand that sort of
had its day and maybe fading andthis is a way to look at how
they're going to inject capital into into this brand to see what
what's going to happen? Again, I'm not an expert in this
area to be able to say is it going to go one way or the
other? But for me, it's more of an

(09:06):
interesting statement of anotherluxury brand looking at the way
that it's going to structure itself over the next 5-10 years.
And we can only watch the story again.
This is on Reuters. If you want, the link will be in
the notes. And finally.
Moving on to grocery retail and more specifically retail media

(09:28):
and so Ocean and I've just announced a new alliance and for
context, Ocean is one of France biggest supermarket in
hypermarket chains and the Muscatar is a French retail
group best known for it's Antel marshes supermarkets.
And the true this is unusual. The two groups are now combining

(09:50):
their retail media businesses soboth Values and Infinity
advertising to create what they call the European leader in the
field so they will cover more than 10,000 stores across six
countries. What?
Yeah, I can see Leroy Merlin is here as well.
So home improvements as well. Exactly with the strong digital

(10:14):
audience. And this move shows how quickly
retail media is consolidating inEurope.
Ocean and Marche clearly want torival Carrefour and pubisis, and
pubisis is quite big in that field.
And so the battle is heating up.And it's clear that nowadays

(10:35):
retailers don't just want to sell groceries, they also want,
you know, a, a, a slice of the advertising market.
So it's interesting, interestingto see.
And yeah, this is unusual to seean alliance like that.
So I'm really looking forward toto see how it's going.
Yeah, it's an interesting one because in the UK version of

(10:55):
this show, I covered Morrison's and Instacart.
And Instacart is a network of retail media or grocery in the
US and obviously they have a trolley that has a screen on it,
but they're Morrison's as the first UK retailer.
And for Instacart is the first outside of the US deploying

(11:16):
this. And and this is driven by,
again, how do they generate revenue from, from CPG
companies? So this is super, super
interesting. And the fact that it's across
Europe as well, it's not just inFrance, it's it, it's where was
it? It was like in Spain, in Italy
there is France, Belgium, Italy,Poland, Spain and Portugal.

(11:37):
So this is what the big network that they've, they're creating
so well, really interesting to see really good.
OK with that. I will see you next week at NRF.
Yes, in person. Yeah, in person finally.
Well, actually I think I saw youin April in person, Yes, but now
I get to see you again in in Paris.
So it's wonderful having someonewho's local because I'm sure

(11:59):
you're going to take me to all the coolest retail hotspots in
NRFI mean it's like outside. So OK Alex, until next week,
look forward. To yes.
Until next week, yes. Thank you.
Bye.