Double shot e.gr Bernard Arnault and Lvmh in Switzerland. The owner of the luxury group personally bought a small share of his rival Richemont. In the same hours, LVMH announced the purchase of Swiza, the Swiss company that owns L'Epée 1839, a manufacturer of high-end watches.
Arnault buys a share of Richemont
The bombshell news comes from an article by Bloomberg Businessweek, according to which Bernard Arnault would have bought a share of Richemont. The exact size of the participation is not known, but according to rumors it would be about a “small share and part of a larger Arnault family-owned portfolio of investments in publicly traded companies.”
It seems that Arnault purchased the share of the Swiss giant because he was moved by admiration for the group that controls brands such as Cartier, Piaget, Baume & Mercier and Mont Blanc and intended to hold the stock only as an investment.
However, the market has not missed some words uttered by the French billionaire in recent months, statements that could lend themselves to other interpretations, leaving the door open to various hypotheses. Last January, for example, Arnault declared that if Rupert (controlling shareholder of Richemont with 10,2% of the capital and 51% of the voting rights) “he needs support to maintain his dependence, I will be there”.
However, the news was welcomed positively by the stock exchange which seems to appreciate the "closeness" between two of the most important global luxury giants. Not surprisingly, in Zurich Richemont shares they earn 3,4% of their value while in Paris the Lvmh title salt of 0,4%.
LVMH buys L'Epée 1839 watches
But the news doesn't end here. LVMH has made the purchase of Swiza official, the Swiss company he owns L'Epée 1839, manufacturer of high-end watches. His designs range from classic watches selling for a few thousand Swiss francs to more creative models priced at more than 10.000 Swiss francs.
Initially specializing in watch components and a “pioneer of music boxes”, L'Epée 1839 has now “specialized in watches” and has partnerships with “numerous luxury houses and watchmaking”, including some from the French group, LVMH underlines in its press release. “We will maintain and develop” the “numerous watchmaking partnerships”, declared Frédéric Arnault, CEO of LVMH's watchmaking division and son of Bernard Arnault. Lvmh's watches and jewelry division generated sales for 2,5 billion euros in the first quarter of 2024.
