Italian luxury goods group Gucci, which boasts $2 billion (€2 billion) available cash for acquisitions, wants to buy companies which make watches or leather goods, chief executive Domenico De Sole said in a press interview yesterday.

In November, Gucci bought France's Sanofi, owner of Yves Saint Laurent, for $1 billion but it still has considerable cash left over from the $3 billion paid by Pinault Printemps Redoute for a 42 per cent shareholding in Gucci.