Prada heir says group always looking for M&A opportunities

TORGIANO, Italy (Reuters) - Italian luxury group Prada is always looking out for acquisition opportunities, Lorenzo Bertelli, son of the group's founders, said on Tuesday.

KEY QUOTES

"The Prada group is and will always be looking around for opportunities", Bertelli, who serves as Prada's marketing director, told reporters at a company event in Umbria, when asked whether the group was interested in acquiring Armani or other brands.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT Giorgio Armani told Bloomberg in an interview last month that he did not rule out a merger or a listing for its company in its succession plans, rekindling speculation about the future of the Italian fashion group.

CONTEXT Prada is planning to invest around 70-80 million euros ($75-86 million) per year on industrial plants, a sum which does not include potential acquisitions to bring suppliers in-house, which are increasingly important for the group, CEO Andrea Guerra said at the same event in Torgiano, near Perugia.

Italian fashion group Prada hired former Luxottica chief Guerra to smooth the transition to the next generation of the family, with Lorenzo Bertelli, son of founders Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, expected to take the helm of the group in the future.

($1 = 0.9298 euros)

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin, editing by Alvise Armellini and Tomasz Janowski)