A flagship consolidation for Prada. The shop next door was not for sale; it was secured anyway.
Transaction facts
| Service | Retail acquisition, off-market |
| Location | Old Bond Street, Mayfair W1 |
| Completed | December 2013 |
| Client | Prada |
The brief
Prada held 17–18 Old Bond Street and wanted number 16, the shop next door, to create a contiguous flagship. Number 16 was not for sale: it had been bought two years earlier by an overseas investor in a well-publicised deal. There was no listing, no marketing campaign and no agent to negotiate with.
What we did
We researched the owner’s structure, jurisdiction and acquisition thesis before any approach; made a discreet professional enquiry without revealing who the buyer was; and over several months refined a proposition that was better for the owner than continuing to hold, on timing, certainty and structure as much as on price. Disclosure was controlled until exchange.
The result
Completed in December 2013. A flagship was secured not because a unit became available but because the right conversation was had, quietly, with the right person. Read the full account in Anatomy of a Bond Street Consolidation.