Kering has been looking since the beginning of this year for investors who may be interested in taking over its 86 percent stake in Puma, says the Bloomberg news agency. Investment funds in Asia, Qatar and other parts of the Middle East were reportedly approached, but no takeover negotiations have taken place so far. Officials of Kering declined to comment, but it seems that Kering's boss, François-Henri Pinault, is getting impatient about the follow-up to his initial acquistion of a 27 percent stake in Puma back in 2007. The company's valuation has declined since then from €5.3 billion to €2.5 billion.

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