Italy’s Borsalino, one of the world’s most famous hat makers and known for Humphrey Bogart’s fedora in the film “Casablanca”, has been rescued by Haeres Equita, a group of investors led by a Swiss-Italian financier. The company was put up for sale via an auction after a judge in the town of Alessandria, where the luxury brand was founded in 1857, refused last year to grant it court protection from creditors.

A court in the city of Turin approved a 6.4 million euro offer, a source with knowledge of the matter said, the minimum price that had been fixed for the sale. The offer from Haeres Equita, the investor group led by businessman Philippe Camperio and which has been managing the company since the end of 2015, was the only one submitted.