The Business of Fashion writes on LinkedIn that an investment firm backed by LVMH is betting demand from wealthy Americans for quiet luxury will ensure its €510 million ($545 million) stakes in Italian shoemaker TOD’S yields the double-digit returns private equity typically seeks.

L Catterton, created by US fund Catterton and LVMH-owner Groupe Arnault, on Friday secured sufficient shares to take Tod’s private once the deal, valuing the company at just over €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion), formally concludes in the coming days. Listed in Milan but controlled by its founding Della Valle family, Tod’s profitability has lagged rivals.

Last year it postponed marketing investments to help increase its operating profit margin to 8.4 percent of sales – behind Prada’s 22.5 percent and Brunello Cucinelli’s 16.4 percent, partly because more of its production is in-house compared with peers.

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