LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault has reportedly bought a stake in a luxury goods rival that owns Cartier, sparking rumors of a possible takeover battle.
The mercurial French billionaire, currently the world’s third-richest person with a net worth of $197 billion, according to Forbes magazine, has acquired a stake in Swiss-based Richemont, but the amount is too small to be forced to be made public, two people familiar with the matter said. He told the Financial Times.
Representatives for LVHM and Richemont did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A source told the FT that Arnault’s stake “does not represent any particular move towards Richemont”.
Nonetheless, there has been recent speculation that Mr Arnault is setting his sights on the company, which also owns Chloe, Piaget, Montblanc and fashion website Net-a-Porter.
In January, Arnault called Johann Rupert, Richemont’s longtime chairman and control of the company with 51 percent of the voting power, an “outstanding leader” while making cryptic comments about future transactions.
“I understand that he wants to remain independent,” Arnault said. “That’s very good. If he wants help to maintain his independence, I will support him.”
But analysts at European bank Kepler Chevreux said Rupert, a 74-year-old South African billionaire also known for his shrewd business dealings, “is not interested in any kind of partnership,” Reuters reported.
This is despite analysts saying LVMH is “certainly interested and has the financial wherewithal to do a deal.”
A second Swiss banking analyst told Reuters that Arnault wanted to buy Richemont, which he said would be “his lost jewel”.
During a lengthy question session, he was asked about future acquisitions. Bloomberg Businessweek profile this week broke the news of Richemont’s stake purchaseArnault also said he had “ideas for the future”, but did not provide any specifics, adding: “There’s no need to do that.”
Paris-based LVMH has a history of buying stakes in rivals, including a surprise purchase of a stake in Hermes, maker of the pricey Birkin bag, in 2010.
LVMH sold its stake in 2014 after Hermes’ controlling family refused to sell.
In 2021, Arnault bought Tiffany for $15.8 billion, adding another member to LVMH’s luxury brand empire, which also includes brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, Marc Jacobs and Sephora.
