The president of Vista Alegre said in an interview with Lusa that Cristiano Ronaldo’s investment in Vista Alegre aims to “unite the strengths of the two Portuguese brands” and make the group grow in Asia and the Middle East.
On June 14, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo bought a 10% stake in Vista Alegre Atlantis and has agreed to acquire a 30% stake in Vista Alegre Spain in the next few days.
“Vista Alegre has a world to discover and a world to continue growing,” says Nuno Terras Marques, noting that one of the aims of Cristiano Ronaldo’s investment in the group “was to create a Vista Alegre for Asia & Middle East”.
And the aim “of this creation is, in fact, to unite two Portuguese brands here, to unite the strengths of the two Portuguese brands – I almost say [that they are] one, clearly, the biggest Portuguese brand and the other perhaps, I would say, the biggest Portuguese luxury brand” and “to try to unite here the two very strong Portuguese brands in the sense of promoting themselves and Vista Alegre growing in that geographical region, in that region of the globe where it still has sales, I would say, incipient, for the market that it is”, argues the manager.
“These are the actions that demonstrate our ambition, never disinvesting, never losing focus on our national market, which loves us so much and is so strong with us,” reinforces the CEO of Vista Alegre Atlantis (VAA).
But “we have to give Vista Alegre more and more wings” to advance in the international market.
The United States is one of the markets where Vista Alegre intends to grow, “but the Middle East and Asia is another,” he points out.
It’s a market “where we believe we have product and a lot of potential for growth”, he says.
Therefore, “that’s where we’re going to invest, as part of our international growth strategy, because we have potential, there’s a market” and the Vista Alegre brand “has an excellent position in terms of quality, positioning and product range to be able to win” in that region, the manager argues.
The international market represents around 75% of the group’s business.
As for Vista Alegre’s first half performance, it “will be in line with the second half of last year, respecting seasonality, because our second half is always very strong, stronger because it has the seasonality of Christmas, of December”.
However, “we believe that the first half of this year was very much in line with what we had projected and aspired to” and “we are convinced that we are going to have a much stronger second half of 2024 and also in line with what is also a change in monetary policy, with a reduction in interest rates” and this will create “a climate of confidence for continued investment”, says Nuno Terras Marques.
