On the eve of its centenary, the Millon group bought, at the end of July, 95% of the capital of the Milanese auction house Il Ponte Casa d’Aste, founded in 1974 and one of the top 3 Italian auction houses, for an amount between 7 and 10 million euros.
The French operator is thus extending its presence in Europe – Milan being a recognized place for the European art market – already established in Belgium; while internationally, it has anchored itself on the Vietnamese market. “This acquisition allows us to take a strategic turn and continue our international expansion. The Italian market offers a direct growth perspective, since there is no duplication of audience between our two houses”comments Alexandre Millon.
For Millon, it is a question of winning over new seller and buyer clients in a market – Italy – where the Christie’s/Sotheby’s duopoly has little presence. The Italian entity, however, is keeping its name – associated in sales communication with that of Millon Auction Group – while Rossella Novarini, general manager of Il Ponte, remains in her position.
In 2023, the two auction houses recorded a total of 130 million euros, including 94 million for Millon.
