BERNARD ARNAULT CONFIRMS HE OWNS ‘VERY MINOR STAKE’ IN RICHEMONT

(Bloomberg) -- Bernard Arnault confirmed he bought a small stake in Cartier owner Richemont, as the chief executive officer of rival luxury conglomerate LVMH seeks to cool speculation about his intentions.

“I know well the owner, Mr Johann Rupert, of Richemont,” Arnault said in an interview on CNBC broadcast Friday. “And we have a good relationship and I told him that I will never do anything against him. That’s clear.”

It’s “a very minor stake,” Arnault said, confirming a report last month by Bloomberg Businessweek that he had invested as part of a broader family-owned portfolio of investments in publicly-listed companies.

News of the shareholding triggered questions around his intentions for the investment. Richemont has a strong defense against unwanted suitors because Rupert, its chairman, controls 51% of the voting rights despite owning only 10.2% of the capital. Over the past few years, 74-year-old Rupert has emphasized his desire to keep the group 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 said.

LVMH owns jewelry brands including Tiffany & Co. as well as Bulgari, meaning a takeover of Richemont would likely attract antitrust scrutiny. LVMH’s fashion brands Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior Couture have jewelry lines, too.

Earlier this week, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE posted second-quarter results that missed estimates amid a demand slowdown for high-end goods, particularly in the key Chinese market. Arnault is the world’s third wealthiest individual, with a fortune estimated at around $185 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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