Italian style, U.S. muscle: Hills re-brand ancient Venice glassworks

Jul 27, 2017 1294

BY: Joseph N. DiStefano

In 2010, around the time Vernon and Shirley Hill opened Metro Bank PLC in London, the Philadelphia banker and his designer wife were making another investment across Europe: They bought a minority stake in Seguso Vetri D’Arte, a hand-blown lighting and art-glass company in Venice’s ancient Murano glassmaking district.

With Metro Bank, the Hills were taking on established British banks, building an aggressive new lender that’s now worth $4 billion. With Seguso, the mission is different: The Hills aimed to rebuild a brand in partnership with a family that traces its foundry back 23 generations, to 1397.

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SOURCE: http://www.philly.com

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