ROME (Reuters) - Ermenegildo Zegna's ( ZGN ) controlling shareholder has raised its stake in the luxury group and intends to increase it further, the company said on Tuesday.

The Monterubello holding company, owned by members of the founding Zegna family, had purchased 913,000 shares - or 0.36% of the Italian group - on the market as of Nov. 11, a company statement said.

It added the holding company, which already holds 60% of Zegna, intended to buy a further 2 million shares, or 0.79%.

"Our family firmly believes that the purchase of additional shares in the Ermenegildo Zegna Group represents a very strong investment," said Zegna CEO Ermenegildo Zegna ( ZGN ), known as Gildo, who is also chairman of Monterubello.

"Given market volatilities and uncertainty, the Zegna family believes that the Group's current stock valuation does not reflect its real potential," he added.

The group's market capitalisation is around 1.7 billion euros ($1.8 billion), according to LSEG data.($1 = 0.9422 euros)