Arnault Plays Down Talk of a Richemont Takeover Bid
July 28, 24
(IDEX Online) - Billionaire Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of the luxury conglomerate LVMH, has confirmed reports from last month that he bought what he describes as "a very minor stake" in Swiss rival Richemont.
In an interview with the US business news channel CNBC he sought to cool speculation that he could be planning a possible takeover bid.
Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont - which controls 26 maisons including Chloe, Montblanc, IWC, A. Lange & Sohne, Van Cleef & Arpels, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin - has repeatedly said he wants the company to remain independent.
"He's done something fantastic with Richemont, with Cartier, with Van Cleef and I think he's independent, he wants to stay independent and I agree completely on that," Arnault (pictured) said.
Arnault is currently the world's third richest person, with a fortune estimated by Forbes of $185bn.
He snapped up Tiffany & Co in 2021 for $15.8bn after prolonged haggling and threats of legal action in both directions. He says he has no plans to bid for Cartier, although adding it to the LVMH portfolio would further increase its dominance in the jewelry sector
Bloomberg News broke the story a month ago that Arnault had bought a small shareholding in Richemont. The stake is part of a broader family-owned portfolio of investments, and is too small to be disclosed in public registers.