Arnault Family Wants to Simplify Holding Structure for LVMH

by · WWD
Bernard ArnaultAFP via Getty Images

PARIS — The Arnault family has outlined a plan to simplify the companies through which it controls LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton to ensure its continued control over the world’s biggest luxury group.

Compressing a chain of holding structures into just one entity, the project involves merging the Arnault family holding company Agache with its operational investment subsidiary Financière Agache.

The resulting entity would then merge into Christian Dior, which holds the bulk of the family’s voting rights and equity stake in LVMH, Christian Dior said in a statement on Wednesday.

Related Articles

Human Resources

EXCLUSIVE: Givenchy Bolsters Executive Ranks With Two Senior Appointments

Human Resources

EXCLUSIVE: LVMH Names New Managing Director at Repossi

Christian Dior would be converted into a limited joint stock partnership and be renamed Agache.

You May Also Like

The new company would hold a direct 49.76 percent stake in LVMH, representing 65.55 percent of its voting rights, with LVMH chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault continuing as managing partner of the surviving entity.

As a result of the change, the Arnault family would launch a cash tender offer for the Christian Dior shares it does not already own, representing about 2.44 percent of the company and valued at about 1.63 billion euros.

The transactions would require shareholder and regulatory approval, including from France’s financial markets authority, with votes expected in December and the tender offer potentially opening in the first quarter of 2027.

There would be no forced buyout: shareholders could either sell their shares in the offer or remain invested in the newly created Agache, listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.

The Arnault family has taken advantage of a market slump to snap up shares in the group, which owns more than 75 brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany & Co., Sephora and Moët & Chandon. In February, it crossed the threshold of 50 percent ownership.

LVMH shares have fallen by more than 38 percent this year, causing the group to lose its crown as France’s most valuable company to L’Oréal, and pushing Bernard Arnault off the top 10 of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.