Shares in Benetton will be delisted as of May 31, after more than 25 years on the Milan stock market, as the Benetton family takes the Italian retailer private to turn around its struggling business. In January, the family holding Edizione said it would delist the company after a buyout of minority shareholders.
Alessandro Benetton, son of founder Luciano, was officially entrusted last month with reviving the brand, which has fallen out of fashion from its 1980s heyday. Highlighting the company's dire situation, the group reported first-quarter sales down 5.5 percent from a year ago, to 428 million euros ($549 million).
"The first quarter of 2012 ended in line with our expectations, with an unsatisfactory result," company executive Biagio Chiarolanza said in a statement on May 15. "We know that the repositioning will not be easy and the first quarter results confirm that," he added.