Galerie Perrotin is in talks to sell a majority stake to investment firm Colony to fund its expansion

European property investor Colony Investment Management has confirmed it is in talks to buy a 60% stake in Galerie Perrotin, a top international gallery run by French art dealer Emmanuel Perrotin.

The news was first reported by Bloomberg and is somewhat surprising, as the deal would marry corporate investment and a longtime gallery rather publicly. Often, investments in art galleries by companies or private funders are done more discreetly, even secretly.

Perrotin represents artistic stars who push the limits such as Takashi Murakami and Maurizio Cattelan. The latter, for example, was the artist behind the viral art installation The comedianunveiled at Art Basel in 2019, where he taped a banana to a wall, creating a global sensation and widespread moans.

Perrotin is giving up more than half of his business but not ceding any control, according to the report. The dealership said it wanted access to financing to expand.

Left: Comédien by Maurizio Cattelan, on sale at Perrotin at Art Basel Miami Beach. Photo by Sarah Cascone. Right: performance artist David Datuna. Photo: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP via Getty Images.

Colony, headed by Nadra Moussalem, says it has 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in assets under management. The two are said to be in exclusive negotiations with a transaction likely to close in the second half of 2023, according to a statement.

Perrotin told Bloomberg that the art market “has seen a huge revolution in recent years, but there is still a lot to come. We must boost our activities around the world and conquer new geographies.

The gallery was founded in 1990 and has branches in Paris, Tokyo, New York and Shanghai. A space in Los Angeles will open later this year. Other artists in the gallery’s stable include JR, Xaiver Veilhan and Sophie Calle.

Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Perrotin made $151 million in sales last year, has always been profitable, and yet reportedly has no debt.

Moussalem said the company’s expertise in real estate investment will help Perrotin achieve its growth goals. With the additional support, the gallery founder can envision gallery outposts in cities including Zurich, London, Bangkok and Istanbul, he said. The liquidity also opens up the possibility of buying competitors, he added, as he expects more gallery consolidation in the coming years.

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