Two Major Brands Of Luxury Goods

After more than a year, France is the two largest.

Giant Louis Weedon group and

The group's "war" resurgence, and accompanied by a petition to the "battlefield" of justice.

Back in October 2010, Louis Weedon suddenly announced that he would increase his holdings of Hermes, thereby igniting the two luxury giants.

The outbreak of "war".

Quietly increasing holdings triggered equity disputes

Hermes issued a statement in 4 confirmed that it submitted a petition to the Paris Procuratorate on 10 July this year, accusing Louis Weedon of unfair practices such as insider trading, collusion and manipulation of stock prices.

Louis Weedon, however, did not let Mai Mai, the same day, also issued a statement that the operation of the group's holdings of Hermes shares is "fully in line with the norms" and will wait for the outcome of the judicial process.

In addition, the group also counterclaims, accusing Hermes of "extortion, false accusation and unfair competition".

In October 23, 2010, Louis Weedon announced that he would increase his holdings of Hermes to 17.1%, becoming the largest single shareholder outside the Hermes family heir.

News came out, and the industry was in an uproar.

Since 2001, Louis Weedon has held 4.9% of Hermes.

In accordance with the provisions of the French financial market paction, a shareholder's holdings of shares exceed a certain limit and should be notified to the shareholding enterprises and financial market regulators when it is possible to change the board of directors and the internal voting rights of the board.

Louis Weedon quietly operated and succeeded in increasing its share to 22.28% in December 2011, causing a high level of discontent in Hermes.

Hermes was founded in 1837. It was originally a harness maker and later became a luxury goods manufacturer famous for its leather goods and scarves.

In 1993, Hermes 20% shares began to go public, and the remaining shares were held by family heirs and a handful of top executives.

The Hermes family inherited 73.4% of the group's holdings, but the single heir held no more than 5%.

Louis Weedon has long been concerned about Hermes's stock returns.

According to a document released by the French financial market authority, Louis Weedon began a series of stock swap operations with three French banks in 2008. He bought three Hermes convertible derivatives from three banks, then converted derivatives to common stocks, and finally paid the bill by Louis Weedon.

As pactions are carried out through cash, the relevant pactions can not be disclosed according to the French financial paction management rules.

Whether the stock swap is illegal or not, the French financial market authority has launched an investigation and there is no conclusion.

It is not clear how the Paris procuratorate should handle it.

According to the French Le Monde, Italy and the United States sentenced several years ago to similar stock swap pactions.

The idea of space dialogue is different.

Bernard Arnaud, the current CEO of Louis Weedon group, is a smart French businessman and art collector.

In his early years, he tried to gain substantial control over the group by holding a large stake in Louis Weedon group through a holding company, but failed to do so.

The global stock crash in October 1987 helped him achieve his original intention and eventually made Louis Weedon group the largest luxury goods manufacturer in the world.

After increasing the holdings of Hermes, Louis Weedon has said that he will focus on "long-term strategic investment" and be satisfied with becoming a long-term shareholder. He will not seek a public takeover and will not seek a seat of the board of supervisors.

But Bertrand Pies, chairman of the Hermes board of supervisors and CEO Patrick Thomas, can not be indifferent to Arnaud's acquisition of Louis Weedon.

They were interviewed by France in November 2010 in the French Le Figaro, hoping to persuade Arnaud to retreat.

In order to counter Louis Weedon's possible further takeover actions, the Hermes family successor announced the establishment of a holding company in December 2011, bringing together about 50.2% of their shares and freezing it for 20 years, while giving priority to another 12.3% of the shares.

Thomas said that the establishment of a holding company is only a formal problem in law. It only concentrates about 50% of the successor's shares and is managed by a company. There is no fundamental change in substance, but the aim is to send a strong signal to the internal staff and the outside world: the management will not sell the enterprise.

In an interview in March 2011, Thomas explained that the war between Hermes and Louis Weedon was not a financial conflict, but a "cultural conflict".

The management principle of Hermes is "exquisite craftsmanship, creativity and style" rather than financial means.

Louis Weedon group is a luxury manufacturer who adopts financial means to realize M & a strategy.

At this point, Hermes has nothing to do with Louis Weedon.

"I don't think this shareholder can bring us anything.

We need neither shareholders nor welcome shareholders.

It can be seen that the disputes between Louis Weedon and Hermes will continue from the different concepts of management.

Luxury manufacturing industry, as an important characteristic industry of the French economy, will undoubtedly arouse the attention of all the two giants.