Perth fashion veteran Aurelio Costarella will shortly delist his company from the Australian Stock Exchange in a move to help free him from the "onerous responsibility" of running a public company.
The change has come about after the shareholding group that owns the business, Costarella Design, signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire liver disease treatment company Asian Centre for Liver Diseases and Transplantation (ACLT).
Should the acquisition be approved by shareholders, Costarella Design will change its name and focus solely on ACLT.
The deal will allow the Costarella fashion business to be privatised, allowing it to focus on its core business of high-end luxury fashion.
Late last year Costarella said it was preparing to enter three new product categories within the next three months. The changes include introducing a new accessories line, a ready-to-wear diffusion brand and a collaboration with cosmetics label iNuovi.
Costarella Design managing director Aurelio Costarella said the privitisation would have no immediate impact on the fashion business.
He said the move was a positive step for the Costarella brands as it removed all the ASX listed company overheads, resulting in "significant cost saving" and increased bottom line performance.
"The creative side will certainly be enhanced. I am currently spending too much time on the corporate side of the business. I need to focus on what I'm best at, which is design."
Costarella said the brand's global expansion strategy was still in place and the label intended shifting its focus to the Asian and Middle Eastern markets following the downturn in the US economy.
It made "perfect sense" to be constantly re-evaluating markets in response to shifts in economic and social conditions, he said.
"As a direct result of having both sales and PR presence in New York we have sold to stores in Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, Jakarta, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. Each season our retail presence and orders have grown. We will continue to show in New York as soon as we have seen some improvement in both the economy and the exchange."
Costarella said in the past 12 months he had visited Asia six times to establish meetings with buyers/distributors and media. The brand would also continue its focus domestically with shows planned in March at the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival in Melbourne and in April at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week.