LVMH Is Reportedly Considering Acquiring Cartier's Parent Company
Richemont, which owns Cartier, also controls maisons like Chloé and watchmakers like Roger Dubuis.
LVMH, the world’s leading luxury group led by the world’s richest man Bernard Arnault, is reportedly considering a takeover of Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company Richemont. The news was first reported by Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft, which spoke of whispers behind closed doors.
Arnault reportedly has his target on Cartier, seeing the Richemont jewelry and watch brand as a key to LVMH’s growing jewelry segment which currently includes brands such as Tiffany & Co., Bvlgari, and Chaumet.
Richemont is currently the fourth-largest luxury company in the world by market cap with an expansive portfolio of 26 maisons and businesses including Cartier, Chloé, Montblanc, IWC, A. Lange & Söhne, Van Cleef & Arpels, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin as well as retail platforms under YOOX Net-a-Porter Group.
South African businessman Johann Rupert founded Richemont in 1988, and since then, his family has held a controlling stake in the company. So far, Rupert has been resistant to giving away control of the company, refusing to change the family-controlled boardroom structure last year.
“Our board may be slower and more conservative than others. But its openness and collegiality are exactly its advantage. I will not be blackmailed,” he said in a rare interview.
Stay tuned for more details to emerge in the coming months.
In other news, S&P slashes adidas debt rating as earnings tumble.
