MILAN — Pal Zileri’s production arm Forall Confezioni SpA’s second likelihood may very well be the lucky one.

In line with a press release issued by the Veneto region, the interest expressed by fellow manufacturing company J6 to take over Forall’s production site in Quinto Vicentino, outside the Italian town of Vicenza, and its workforce has remained unchanged.

“There’s full agreement by the parties geared at safeguarding the production continuity of the location,” the statement read.

The looks of a white knight in J6 — founded and helmed by Nicola Ferraretto and producing tailored clothing for a roster of brands — dates to last June, as reported.

Negotiations should come to completion by June 30 with a purpose to ensure continuity. The commercial partnership wouldn’t entail the acquisition of the Pal Zileri brand, which is and can remain controlled by the Qatar-based fund Mayhoola, owner of Valentino and Balmain.

If the acquisition does undergo, Forall Confezioni SpA would turn into a supplier to the brand.

Mayhoola first took a 65 percent stake in Forall in 2014. Two years later, the fund bought the remaining 35 percent of the firm from Arafa Holding, representing its commitment to expand Pal Zileri over the long run.

As reported, at the top of December 2020 Forall informed trade unions that it planned to stop the operations of its manufacturing plant in Quinto Vicentino, which on the time meant shedding 250 employees on the plant. That number was believed to succeed in 400, including employees in offices and sales assistants in stores around the globe.

The emergence of J6 allowed the crisis management table established by the northeast Italian region with the corporate’s management team — led by chief restructuring officer and board member Massimiliano Tintinelli, trade unions and representatives of the white knight company — to bide time while extending the state’s extraordinary wage fund, or CIGS, for an additional 12 months until June this yr.

It is known that around 23 employees were already reallocated via training programs within the 10 months since, while the long run of the present 90 employees is determined by the consequence of negotiations between Forall and J6.

Sources said that J6’s industrial plan would entail employing 70 people, with the remaining 20 to be reallocated or offered retirement plans.

“The continuing conversation gives us hope that the journey towards the restructuring and re-industrialization of the production site is regular and in sync with the agreement reached between involved parties,” said Elena Donazzan, council member of the Veneto region with responsibility for labor.

Sonia Paoloni, national secretary of the Filctem Cgil union, touted essentially the most recent developments, dubbing them as an indication that “fighting for good negotiations pays back.”

“The dispute passed through the announcement of the plant closure potentially resulting in 400 jobs being lost to the safeguard of all of them through extraordinary and extraordinary wage support measures first after which the reallocation of employees to other corporations via training programs,” she said.

“Finally, the acquisition of the production site and takeover of its employees by the [J6] company, which can keep the workforce within the Vicenza territory and relaunch the Pal Zileri brand as a crucial pillar of Made in Italy fashion” is a great sign, she added.

Tailoring has been returning front and center in menswear, offering hope for the Pal Zileri brand, whose collections, sources say, will proceed to be produced in Quinto Vicentino under the brand new owner of the plant. In line with media reports, the plant could open to third-party manufacturing activities at a later date.