By Gilles Guillaume, Mathieu Rosemain and Mimosa SpencerPARIS (Reuters) -Gucci owner Kering is poised to hire Renault Chief Executive Luca de Meo to help revive the debt-laden luxury conglomerate, five sources said on Monday,

The boss of French state-backed car giant Renault has quit unexpectedly after warning that European manufacturers were struggling to compete with cut-price Chinese rivals.

Reports of de Meo’s switch to Kering sent the luxury group’s shares up by nearly 12% on Monday, recording their biggest one-day percentage gain since November 2008.

Renault CEO Luca de Meo will be departing the company in mid-July to take over as CEO of Kering, the French luxury conglomerate.

Luca de Meo, Renault's current CEO, will join Kering as the new CEO to help revitalize the debt-heavy luxury conglomerate. This unexpected move sent Kering's shares soaring and Renault's falling. Francois-Henri Pinault remains as chairman,

Luca de Meo revived Renault from crippling losses and gave us the new 5 and Alpine A390. He’s one of the greats