Moleskine History: Modo & Modo to D'Ieteren

A black Moleskine notebook beside an ownership ribbon from 1997 to 2026 — Moleskine's owners since the brand was created in Milan in 1997, with the dates from its own filings.

Key takeaways

Modo & Modo, a small Milan publisher, created the Moleskine trademark in 1997; since January 1, 2007 Moleskine has also been the name of the company that owns it.
SG Capital Europe, later Syntegra Capital, bought Modo & Modo in autumn 2006, and Moleskine listed on Borsa Italiana's STAR segment on April 3, 2013, raising 269.1 million euros (about US$301 million).
D'Ieteren agreed on September 22, 2016 to buy 41.0% at €2.40 (about US$2.70) a share, valuing Moleskine at 506 million euros (about US$567 million), and closed that stake on October 6, 2016.
After a tender offer and a sell-out, D'Ieteren's DM Invest held 98.507% by January 2017; the last 1.493% was bought out and the shares were delisted on January 24, 2017.
Moleskine's own pages say it reproduces a notebook used by Van Gogh, Picasso, Hemingway and Chatwin; it doesn't claim to be the company that made theirs, and retailers list today's Classic as made in China.

Moleskine sells its notebooks on a story about famous artists and writers. The company’s own filings tell a shorter and more precise one: a Milan publisher’s idea in 1997, a private-equity buyout in 2006, a stock-market listing in 2013 and a Belgian owner since 2016. Every date below is from Moleskine’s Italian pages, its stock-exchange filings and D’Ieteren’s notices.

Who makes Moleskine and is it really Hemingway’s notebook?

Moleskine notebooks are made for Moleskine Srl of Milan, owned by Belgium’s D’Ieteren Group, and they are not the notebooks Hemingway used: the brand was created in 1997 to reproduce that kind of notebook. Moleskine’s Italian “Chi siamo” page calls its notebook “the heir and successor of the legendary notebook” used by Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin.

The same page says the company began as Modo & Modo, a small Milan publisher that “brought the original notebook back to life” in 1997 and registered the Moleskine trademark. Its company profile of 2016 describes the original as “l’anonimo taccuino nero”, the anonymous black notebook. In other words, the famous users carried a type of notebook, not a Moleskine.

D’Ieteren’s own page is similarly careful, calling Moleskine a brand “born from the heritage of a legendary notebook”. Moleskine doesn’t name a factory on its product pages; retailers list the Moleskine Classic Notebook as made in China.

Moleskine timeline: 1997 to 2017

Moleskine has had three sets of owners: its founders, a private-equity fund and D’Ieteren. Dates come from the sources in the last column.

Date	Event	Source
1997	Modo & Modo of Milan revives the notebook and registers the Moleskine trademark	Moleskine (IT)
Autumn 2006	SG Capital Europe, later Syntegra Capital, buys Modo & Modo	Moleskine profile, 2016
January 1, 2007	Moleskine becomes the name of the company that owns the trademark	Moleskine code of ethics
April 3, 2013	Shares start trading on Borsa Italiana’s STAR segment; 269.1 million euros (about US$301 million) raised	Borsa Italiana
September 22, 2016	D’Ieteren agrees to buy 41.0% at €2.40 (about US$2.70) a share	D’Ieteren release
October 6, 2016	D’Ieteren’s DM Invest completes the 41% purchase	DM Invest notice
December 2, 2016	Mandatory tender offer closes; D’Ieteren holds about 89%	DM Invest notices
December 13, 2016	D’Ieteren passes 95% of the share capital	DM Invest notice
January 24, 2017	Last 1.493% bought out; Moleskine shares delisted	DM Invest notice
2020	D’Ieteren appoints Daniela Riccardi as chief executive	D’Ieteren

Where does the “legendary notebook” story come from?

From Moleskine’s own branding, which has always presented the notebook as a revival rather than an heirloom. The company profile that Moleskine attached to its 2016 stock-exchange filings says the brand was “born in 1997, reproducing the legendary notebook of the artists and intellectuals of the last two centuries”.

Moleskine’s pages don’t explain where the name comes from or name the workshop that made the originals. Press and fan accounts trace it to Bruce Chatwin’s 1987 book The Songlines and a closed workshop in Tours; we couldn’t check those against a primary source, so we don’t date them here.

So the honest version is this: the shape, the elastic band and the black cover follow an old notebook that famous people carried. The Moleskine brand, the company and the specific products such as the Cahier and Volant journals all date from 1997 or later.

Who was Modo & Modo?

Modo & Modo was a small Milan publisher that created the Moleskine brand in 1997. Moleskine’s Italian site calls it “una piccola casa editrice milanese”, and the 2016 company profile says the business grew “from the experience of Modo & Modo”.

The company kept that name for nearly a decade. Its code of ethics says that only from January 1, 2007 has Moleskine also been the name of the company that owns the trademark worldwide.

When did private equity buy Moleskine?

In autumn 2006, when SG Capital Europe, later renamed Syntegra Capital, bought Modo & Modo spa. The 2016 profile says the aim was to develop the brand’s full potential; it doesn’t give a price, and we found no primary source for one.

By 2016 the fund held its Moleskine shares through Appunti S.à r.l., a Luxembourg company, alongside Pentavest S.à r.l., a vehicle of the venture investor Index Ventures. Those were the two sellers when D’Ieteren arrived.

When did Moleskine list on the stock exchange?

On April 3, 2013, on the STAR segment of Borsa Italiana in Milan. Borsa Italiana’s welcome release says the offering raised 269.1 million euros (about US$301 million) at a market value of 487.6 million euros (about US$546 million), with Mediobanca as sponsor and Goldman Sachs, Mediobanca and UBS running the global offer.

Borsa Italiana’s release doesn’t give the share price. Bloomberg reported on March 28, 2013 that the shares were priced at €2.30 (about US$2.60), with Syntegra selling part of its stake.

How did D’Ieteren take over Moleskine?

D’Ieteren bought 41% from the two funds, then made the mandatory offer to everyone else at the same €2.40 (about US$2.70) a share and squeezed out the rest. Its release of September 22, 2016 valued Moleskine’s equity at 506 million euros (about US$567 million), subject to German antitrust clearance.

DM Invest, D’Ieteren’s Milan vehicle, completed the 41% purchase on October 6, 2016: 87,041,455 shares for 208.9 million euros (about US$234 million). When the tender period ended on December 2, 2016, D’Ieteren held about 89% of the shares, and by December 13 it had passed 95%.

A sell-out procedure took it to 98.507% by January 11, 2017. The remaining 1.493% was acquired through the joint squeeze-out procedure on January 24, 2017, the same day Moleskine’s shares left the exchange.

Why did a car-distribution group buy a notebook brand?

D’Ieteren describes itself as a long-term family investor that backs strong brands, and Moleskine became its third business. In 2016 it ran D’Ieteren Auto, the Belgian Volkswagen-group distributor, and owned 94.85% of Belron, the Carglass and Safelite group, according to the deal release.

D’Ieteren’s Moleskine page says growth slowed in 2019 and margins came under pressure in 2020. It appointed Daniela Riccardi, formerly of Diesel and Baccarat, as chief executive in April 2020 and says the “fewer, bigger, better” strategy returned the company to profitable growth.

Who makes Moleskine notebooks today?

Moleskine Srl a socio unico, a single-shareholder company at Via Bergognone 34 in Milan, sells them, and D’Ieteren owns it. Moleskine’s Italian site says the company has about 400 employees; D’Ieteren lists offices in Köln, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo.

The range has grown well beyond the Classic: planners such as the Moleskine Weekly Planner, sketchbooks, bags and a smart pen. For how the Classic compares with its closest rival, see Moleskine vs Leuchtturm1917; for the other big ownership changes in stationery, see who owns which stationery brands.

Its 2026 collaborations show the wider range: the MoMA Vincent van Gogh notebook, launched in Japan on September 15, 2026, and the Peanuts Large notebook from the second Peanuts collection, launched there on October 6, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Who owns Moleskine?

The Belgian D'Ieteren Group, a family-controlled company founded in 1805 in Brussels. It closed the purchase of a 41% stake on October 6, 2016 and, after a tender offer, bought out the last shareholders on January 24, 2017. Moleskine Srl now has a single shareholder.

Did Hemingway really use a Moleskine?

Not one made by today's company, which didn't exist until 1997. Moleskine says Hemingway, Van Gogh, Picasso and Chatwin used the "legendary notebook" that Moleskine reproduces, and describes that original as an anonymous black notebook. The Moleskine brand itself was registered by Modo & Modo in 1997.

Is Moleskine an Italian company?

Yes. Moleskine Srl is registered in Milan, at Via Bergognone 34, and its Italian site says it has about 400 employees. It is owned by Belgium's D'Ieteren Group, and retailers list its Classic notebooks as made in China.

When was Moleskine founded?

The brand dates from 1997, when Milan publisher Modo & Modo revived the black notebook and registered the Moleskine trademark. The company itself has carried the Moleskine name since January 1, 2007, according to its code of ethics.

How much did D'Ieteren pay for Moleskine?

€2.40 (about US$2.70) a share, which valued the whole company at 506 million euros (about US$567 million). D'Ieteren paid 208.9 million euros (about US$234 million) for the first 41% on October 6, 2016, then offered the same price to every other shareholder.

When did Moleskine go public?

Its shares began trading on Borsa Italiana's STAR segment on April 3, 2013. Borsa Italiana says the offering raised 269.1 million euros (about US$301 million) at a market value of 487.6 million euros (about US$546 million). It left the exchange on January 24, 2017.

Who sold Moleskine to D'Ieteren?

Appunti S.à r.l., the vehicle of the fund Syntegra Capital, and Pentavest S.à r.l., a vehicle of Index Ventures. Together they sold the 41.0% stake that D'Ieteren agreed to buy on September 22, 2016.

Sources (12)

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