MILAN - Italian clothing group Benetton said on Tuesday it had bought 2 percent in cashmere specialist Brunello Cucinelli, which is in the process of listing its shares in Milan just as Benetton retreats from the Italian stock market.

Alessandro Benetton / Photo: Benetton

"It's a high-quality investment, an entrepreneur I hold in high esteem," Alessandro Benetton told reporters at a shareholder meeting where he officially took the helm of the Benetton empire from his father Luciano.

"It's a purely financial investment and opens a dialogue as far I'm concerned," he said.

Cucinelli on Monday priced its initial public offering at 7.75 euros per share, the top of the planned range. The offer was covered around 17 times at the highest price, it said in a statement.

The new company, which will debut on the Milan bourse on April 27, will have a market capitalisation of 527 million euros.

In January, the Benetton family announced it would delist the company after more than a quarter century on the Milan stock exchange.