Another chapter in the dispute between LVMH’s Bernard Arnault and the Hermès family for control of the French brand. This time, the French Association of Minority Shareholders filed a request in the Commercial Court of France asking that the family’s power of veto was locked in the shareholders’ meeting which takes place on May 30. Tension!
* People say that the move was prompted by Arnault, since the family is rumored to be working on a parallel company, of which they would be the proud owner of over 50% of the shares. This second company would not be listed on the stock exchange, thus preventing LVMH from buying more shares and increase its stake in Hermes. Pretty clever.
* FYI: days earlier, Hermes announced the best results in the industry with a 25.5% increase in sales in the first quarter, which equates to over 600 million euros. Thus, you shouldn’t expect to see the end of this fight anytime soon…