MANAGEMENT & PRIVATE INVESTORS takes majority stake in LAPEYRE

Mutares received on 5 October 2026 an irrevocable offer from an investment vehicle backed by Italian entrepreneurs for a controlling stake in Lapeyre, the French manufacturer and retailer of windows, doors, kitchens and bathrooms. The buyers include members of the family that owns Bricofer, the Rome-based DIY chain, and Conforama Italia, the Italian home furnishing retailer, which is unconnected to the French business of the same name. Completion was expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, after consultation with Lapeyre’s employee representative bodies. Unlike a financial buyer, the incoming shareholders come from the DIY and furniture retail trade, and Mutares pointed to possible synergies in purchasing, logistics and product development between Lapeyre’s French operations and its new partners’ industrial and commercial expertise. The buyers intend to keep the Lapeyre brand and its positioning in the French market. Mutares will not exit entirely: it keeps a minority stake and said it would continue to support the turnaround of a company that remains loss-making. Chief investment officer Johannes Laumann said the buyer was well placed to take Lapeyre into its next phase of development, and that staying invested would allow Mutares to accompany the transformation and hand the business over in the best conditions. At the time of the deal, Lapeyre generated revenue of €475m and operated nine production sites across France alongside its store network. The sale forms part of Mutares’ refocusing of its portfolio on chemicals, energy, infrastructure, logistics and services. It had bought Lapeyre from Saint-Gobain in 2021, five years after Saint-Gobain itself had taken over the retailer, founded in 1931.