LVMH and Hermès bury the hatchet in long-running dispute
04/09/2014
The two parties having signed an agreement under which the LVMH Group will distribute all its Hermès shares to its shareholders, on the understanding that LVMH’s largest shareholder, Christian Dior will in turn distribute the Hermès shares it receives to its own shareholders.
LVMH, Dior and Groupe Arnault have undertaken not to acquire any shares in Hermès for the next five years. The distribution of Hermès shares, approved by the boards of LVMH and Dior, will be completed no later than 20th December 2014. Following this distribution, Groupe Arnault will hold around 8.5% of the capital of Hermès International.
LVMH released a statement saying: “[Hermes CEO] Mr Axel Dumas and [LVMH owner] Mr Bernard Arnault both express their satisfaction that relations between the two groups, representatives of France’s savoir-faire, have now been restored.”
The agreement puts to an end the dispute branded ‘handbag wars’ that pitted two of France’s richest families against each other.
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