The French retail giant Kering Group (formerly PPR Group) announced the acquisition of the Italian jewelry group Pomellato. Pomellato's Andrea Morante will remain CEO.

With this acquisition, Kering will strengthen its competitiveness in the expanding jewelry market. It also plans to leverage Kering's experience to strengthen Pomellato Group's growth in international markets.

Pomellato is a jewelry brand founded in Milan, Italy in 1967. The group owns two brands, Pomellato and Dodo, and had sales of 146 million euros (approximately 18.9 billion yen) in 2012. It operates 86 directly operated stores and 600 points of sale worldwide, including in the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. It boasts the fourth-largest sales ranking in the European jewelry market. In Japan, its brands are sold at Takashimaya and Isetan.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images