La Perla

La Perla is the Italian luxury lingerie house founded in 1956 in Bologna by corsetry maker Ada Masotti, now operating under US businessman Peter Kern’s ownership following a June 2025 acquisition of the brand’s key assets out of judicial administration. The acquisition included the historic Bologna production plant on Via Mattei, with Kern committing approximately €30 million in investment through 2027 to rebuild the business.

The brand passed through multiple ownership transitions over its history. Ada’s son Alberto Masotti led the company until 2007 when it was sold to private equity firm JH Partners. In 2013, ownership passed to Italian entrepreneur Silvio Scaglia, who sold to German financier Lars Windhorst’s Tennor Holding (then Sapinda) in 2018. Under Tennor’s ownership, a promised €60-70 million relaunch funding never materialized, and the company entered a sustained financial deterioration. In late 2023, the UK High Court wound up La Perla Global Management UK over £2.8 million in unpaid tax debts. In February 2024, an Italian court declared La Perla Manufacturing Srl insolvent. In May 2024, the Bologna court placed the Italian manufacturing arm into judicial administration, preserving operations and jobs. Peter Kern, former CEO of Expedia Group, acquired the brand’s key assets in June 2025 and rehired all 220 Italian employees with plans to add approximately 40 new positions. Pre-tax losses in 2022 reached €48.8 million on sales of €69.1 million.

La Perla operates approximately 42 points of sale globally following the consolidation, with the strongest remaining presence in Italy, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, France, and select Asian markets. Spanish subsidiaries remained in administration with €51 million in debts as of 2024. For mall operators, La Perla is a Class A luxury specialty tenant in dedicated luxury wings, typically taking 60 to 150 square meters with high merchandise density in lingerie and intimate apparel. Under the Kern ownership, the brand is targeting China and the UAE as priority growth markets, with the historic Bologna manufacturing as the anchor of the recovery thesis.