Versace had been expected a final shortlist of buyers interested in a minority stake in the Italian fashion house by mid-October. The company would then decide on a partner by the end of this year. This was according to Versace's Chief Executive Gian Giacomo Ferraris statement on Friday.

The Italian fashion house had been seeking to boost its balance sheet to help fund overseas expansion in markets including Asia. This was planned before a possible listing later on, according to Reuters report.

Ferraris said that Versace had started looking for a new investor since last year. He also said that the report from Reuters was correct about the company selling between 15% to 20% stake.

According to a source said last week, Versace had been planning to sale a stake of up to 10% through a reserved capital increase. The deal would give the company value of more than EUR1.2 billion. Ferraris previously said that Versace's listing was foreseen in three to five years.