Shake-up on the cards at luxury group
One of the shareholders of the Swiss luxury group Richemont wants to make significant changes to the direction of the company and to focus its brand portfolio to what is called “hard luxury”, according to Bloomberg.
Bluebell Capital Partners has clear ideas about Richemont’s future, reports have said. First, Bluebell wants to include its founder, Francesco Trapani, on Richemont’s board of directors. Mr Trapani is a former chief executive of Bulgari, was on the board of Tiffany, and is current president of The Florence Group.
In addition, Bluebell is proposing to concentrate activities on jewellery and watches, so-called hard luxury, and move away fashion brands and e-commerce activities.
Finally, Bluebell proposes a change of name for the holding, from Richemont to Cartier Group.
Bluebell’s proposals will be presented to shareholders at the annual general meeting on September 7. It owns just over one million Richemont class A shares, the minimum necessary to have its proposals included in the AGM. If Mr Trapani is elected to the board, Bluebell want him as the exclusive representative of all class A shares.
If Bluebell’s plan bears fruit, then the luxury world could see the sell-off of famous fashion brands such as Chloé and Ralph Lauren, with the name Richemont vanishing.
