Hermess

4 November 2010 By Pierre Briancon

Hermès wants Bernard Arnault, owner of luxury goods rival LVMH, out of its capital. But Arnault is unlikely to bow out gracefully after secretly building a 17 percent stake in the group. Hermès’ only ally is the French regulator. That’s no grounds for optimism.

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Patrick Thomas, the chief executive of French luxury goods maker Hermès, and Bertrand Puech, the chairman of its supervisory board, said in a Nov. 3 interview with French newspaper Le Figaro that they considered the acquisition of a 17 percent stake in the company by larger rival LVMH as a move that is not "friendly".

They added that the best way for LVMH owner Bernard Arnault to be "friendly", as the luxury giant insists it is, is to "retire".

JeanPierre Jouyet, the head of French stock market regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers, said in an interview with newspaper Les Echos on Nov. 2 that he found it "highly regrettable" that the French government last year chose not to include cashsettled equity swaps as instruments counting towards regulatory disclosure thresholds.

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