The family of Leopoldo Poppi, the 67-year-old Italian executive who launched North Sails’ clothing line in 1986, has given a mandate to a merchant bank, Armer, to find an investor who will acquire up to 40 percent of the shares of his company, Tomasoni Topsail. Leopoldi and his sons, Riccardo and Stefano, who are in charge of product development and marketing, are looking mainly for a strategic investor abroad who can help the company to expand further outside Italy, which still represents 85 percent of its turnover. The company also owns the Outrage brand and is a licensee of Henri Lloyd, Alinghi and DaKine. According to a press report, the company is projecting earnings of €5 million before amortization and depreciation (EBITDA) on turnover of €65 million for this year.