Perrotin in talks to sell 60% stake to real estate investor to fuel growth

Emmanuel Perrotin is in the process of selling a 60% stake in his eponymous gallery to Colony Investment Management (Colony IM), a French real estate, credit and private equity business, in order to grow the company.

A joint statement released by the companies describes the move as a “pioneering alliance between an investment company and an art gallery” that “will combine Perrotin’s passion for supporting both established and emerging artists with complementary corporate infrastructure and support to facilitate Perrotin’s long term growth plans and vision.”

Perrotin will retain the remaining 40% stake in the contemporary art gallery, which is headquartered in Paris and currently has ten galleries in cities across the world including Hong Kong, New York, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Dubai and Los Angeles.

The gallery declined to disclose the exact terms and value of the deal. According to a statement, completion of the deal is scheduled for the second half of this year, but “remains subject to the usual conditions”. Asked to elaborate on what these conditions are, a gallery spokesperson tells The Art Newspaper: “We have no further information about this to share at this stage”.

On Perrotin’s role within the business going forward, a spokesperson says: “With this operation, Colony IM becomes the majority shareholder but Emmanuel Perrotin remains very invested in the company. He will continue to play a key role in the organisation, both strategic and operational, and will retain his role as chairman.”

Perrotin founded the gallery in 1990, when he was just 21, and has wanted an external investor “for several years but the process accelerated when he met Nadra Moussalem [the chairman and chief executive] few months ago”, the spokesperson says.

“The association we are announcing today is the culmination of more than 30 years’ work by a loyal and committed team in the service of extraordinary artists who have grown up with the gallery,” Perrotin says in a statement. “I am convinced that Colony IM is the ideal partner to accompany us in a new stage of this collective adventure, to which I remain more committed than ever. This new impetus will enable us to further strengthen our existing expertise and develop new ones.”

This “new impetus” will involve the gallery strengthening itself “in the fields that have made its reputation for more than 30 years [i.e. dealing in art] by accelerating its international deployment and developing in new activities” the spokesperson tells The Art Newspaper. These new activities include developing “derivative products”, its secondary market business and “white label” galleries. The extra capital investment, Perrotin has said, might also allow the acquisition of rival galleries.

Moussalem says: “We are always exploring new investment sectors and thrive on helping companies to achieve their full potential…The partnership we are considering today with Perrotin is the result of a shared vision with Emmanuel Perrotin, aimed at long term growth and expansion of the business. We are convinced that contemporary art represents a highly promising asset class for the future.”