A $20 billion investment group, Exor, owned by the Italian Agnelli family of the famed Ferrari sports car marque announced that it will take a 24 percent stake valued at $643 million in French shoe and bag maker Christian Louboutin.
The deal values the Paris-based Louboutin at $2.3 billion euros ($2.73 billion). The brand has 150 shops in 30 countries.
The Netherlands-based Exor is the biggest shareholder in Italian auto builder Ferrari.
Exor's biggest holding is auto company Stellantis, which owns Peugeot and Fiat, among other brands.
The deal with Louboutin will enable the Italian billionaire Agnelli family to grow its online business and help it expand into more markets including China, the companies said on Monday.
Under the leadership of John Elkann, the Agnelli family's investment company has diversified in recent years as the founders of Fiat Chrysler expand beyond the car industry.
The deal comes following another major footwear agreement last week, in which French luxury company LVMH took a majority stake in Birkenstock.
It also comes just days after Japanese apparel maker Onward Holdings announced it is selling the Jil Sander brand to Renzo Rosso's luxury group, OTB, the parent of Diesel, Marni, Maison Margiela, Amiri, and Viktor & Rolf.
Linking up with Louboutin follows Exor's 80 million-euro investment in Chinese luxury brand Shang Xia, according to Bloomberg.
"Christian Louboutin's extraordinary creativity, energy and unique vision are precisely the qualities needed to build a great company," The New York Post quoted Exor chief executive, John Elkann, as saying in a statement.
Louboutin's famously red-soled stilettos, worn by celebrities Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie and Eva Longoria, have been a fashion statement for the Hollywood crowd since its founding three decades ago.
