Classic jewelry with exotic owners. The historic American house Tiffany has a new majority shareholder: the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, which acquired 5,19% of the capital (equal to 6,59 million shares). This was revealed by the Financial Times, specifying that the operation dates back to last December 30, at least according to the communications of the SEC (Consob of the United States). The cost? According to estimates it should be slightly less than 440 million dollars. Thus the Vanguard fund slips into second place in the shareholding structure of the jewelery chain, which does not go beyond 5,17%.
With this latest market hit, the Middle Eastern emirate further expands its enviable portfolio in the world of luxury. In addition to the Tiffany pearl, in the Qatar necklace there are already investments in groups of global value such as lvmh (the colossal holding of the French tycoon Bernard Arnault, which controls, among other things, Louis Vuitton and Dior), the historic English department stores Harrods and Europe's largest automaker, Your Majesty Volkswagen, which owns the Lamborghini and Audi brands.
The Qatari investment was a surprise even for Tiffany's top management: "We only learned about it when the communication was made to the Seca," a company spokesman told FT.
