Tapestry, the owner of Coach, is close to concluding an agreement to buy Capri Holdings, the owner of Michael Kors, reported the Wall Street Journal. The deal could be announced as early as today. Capri was due to present its first-quarter results on Tuesday, before postponing them until Thursday morning, without giving a reason. The company had lowered its forecasts last May in the face of a worsening consumer environment in the United States. The absence of a strong acceleration in China is not helping.

Capri Holdings owns the Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo and Versace brands. Its current capitalization is $4 billion, compared with Tapestry's $10 billion, but it has been in freefall for the past ten years. Capri's strategy of increasing production in the "mass luxury" segment has not exactly been a success. The operation could, however, value Capri at between $5 and $9 billion, the publication suggests.

American brands are struggling in the sector, as illustrated by this comparison chart with Europe's LVMH, Burberry and Compagnie Financière Richemont.

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