Italian MinervaHub takes over the Jato 1991 embroiderer

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Cassidy STEPHENS

Published
Oct 24, 2022

After the Rilievi Group was acquired last September by Holding Industriale, it is the turn of another Italian high-end embroiderer to be acquired. Jeto 1991 is a company specializing in hand embroidery on fabric, which supplies the great names of luxury from Dior to Gucci through Lanvin and Valentino. The majority of the company has just been taken over by MinervaHub, the new luxury production company led by Matteo Marzotto.

 
The aquisition, of which the amount was not disclosed, was announced via a statement that also confirmed that founders and managers will "remain directly involved in the management of the company." That is, Giorgina Rapezzi and her son Jacopo Giuseppe Tonelli, with whom she founded the company in 1991 in San Lazzaro di Savena, near Bologna in central Italy. The company includes a branch in India near New Delhi, and employs some 400 people. Renowned for its know-how, Jeto 1991 also has a vast archive of about 6,000 pieces.
 
MinervaHub was created in March 2022 with the aim of bringing together SMEs specializing in high-end materials and finishes. This luxury cluster was born from the merger of two Italian investment funds, Xenon, through its holding company XPP Seven, and Ambria Holding. It brings together six high-level craft companies, to which will now be added Jeto 1991, a dozen production sites and employs 434 people, with a turnover of 101 million euros.

Six companies in niche sectors

In addition to the new embroiderer, Minerva Hub brings together six companies operating in different niche sectors: Quake, in Veneto, specializing in industrial embroidery and applications, Koverlux located in Bergamo, in Lombardy, that specializes in finishings, such as paint, lazer, etc... Zuma, located in Tuscany near Pisa, is a tannery specialized in precious skins and finally Zeta Catene and Galvanica Formelli, both located in Tuscany specialize in Arezzo.

 
Over the past year, there has been a race in the Peninsula to acquire manufacturers known for their specialization in the fashion and luxury sectors by various groups and investors, such as Gruppo Florence or Holding Industriale, through its subsidiary Holding Moda. The latter took over Rilievi Group last September. A company also specialized in the development and realization of high-end embroidery, founded, like Jeto 1991, in Bologna in 1991.