Family fortunes

12 September 2007 By John Foley Follow @johnsfoley

Barons of bling like Bulgari and Hermes are high on predators wishlists, but family shareholdings make them takeoverproof. That was fine in the old world. But as their ambitions increase, so will the case for deals with big rivals such as LVMH and PPR.

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FrancoisHenri Pinault, the chief executive of Gucci Group owner PPR, said last week that he would be interested in Bulgari, the Italian jeweller, were it to become available. Francesco Trapani, Bulgari's chief executive, replied that the major shareholders had no intention to sell.

Bulgari, which reports interim figures on Thursday, is 52% owned by three members of the Bulgari family. Brothers Paolo and Nicola own 24% each. Trapani, who is their nephew, owns 4.5%.

Hermes, the French scarf and handbag company seen as an attractive takeover target by analysts, is also majorityowned by its founding family. Around 60 members own almost threequarters of the shares, with two shareholder pacts and a poison pill under which the group can effectively issue new shares to prevent a takeover.

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