MILAN, May 28 (Reuters) - Diego Della Valle, the chairman and chief executive of Italian luxury shoe and bag maker Tod's (TOD.MI), said on Thursday 28 May his stake in U.S. department store chain Saks Inc (SKS.N) was a "strategic investment".

Diego Della Valle - Photo : Andreas Solaro

Della Valle has acquired a 5.9 percent stake in Saks and last week told Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore he intended to increase it, without saying by how much. Reports have said he has an option to go to 10 percent.

"They have been our clients for many years and know them well. The company has great potential. We have looked at the accounts closely," Della Valle told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

"It is a strategic investment of the family not of Tod's. With the value it had reached it was a great deal," he said.

Della Valle gave no further details on his Saks interest.

Last week he told Il Sole he would meet Saks management in New York to present the main points of a re-launch plan and would also submit it to billionaire investor Carlos Slim, who has a stake of 17.8 percent in Sak's. (Reporting by Milan newsroom; Editing by Greg Mahlich)