LVMH,
the luxury goods company headed by Bernard Arnault, undertook a secret
operation to build its controversial stake in Hermes, its smaller French
rival, according to a leaked report from France’s stock market
regulator.
The report, “vigorously contested” by LVMH, added an incendiary new twist to an acrimonious battle between the two companies.
The dispute erupted when LVMH announced in October 2010 that it held 17.1 per cent of family-controlled Hermes, which floated in 1993, in apparent breach of regulatory thresholds to declare stakes of 5, 10 and 15 per cent.
It triggered an inquiry by the regulator AMF and the filing of separate lawsuits by 176-year-old Hermes, famous for its scarves and bags, as it fought to fend off the unwelcome intrusion by LVMH, whose brands include Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Dom Pérignon champagne.
LVMH, which now owns 22.6 per cent of Hermes, has always maintained that its intentions were friendly and that it had not intended to acquire the stake,Discover the largest collection of gucci handbags for women. saying it opted to take shares instead of cash to avoid paying a big capital gains tax bill on Hermes equity swap derivatives that it held.
Mr Arnault, chairman and chief executive, told shareholders at LVMH’s annual meeting last month that the group had ended up with the stake “in an unexpected manner”.
But according to a report prepared for the AMF’s sanctions committee, leaked to Le Monde newspaper,Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store. LVMH first considered acquiring shares from Hermes family members and on the open market. Instead, it mounted an operation from 2007 under which it used a series of subsidiaries and banks to acquire equity swaps in tranches adding up to 12.2 per cent of Hermes but which did not individually exceed 5 per cent and which were “undetectable by the public”. These were later converted into shares.
The report said the earlier acquisition by LVMH of a 4.9 per cent stake in Hermes in 2001-02 was completed via vehicles in Luxembourg, the US state of Delaware and Panama that were not detailed in the group’s consolidated accounts.
In a statement, LVMH, which has always maintained that it acted within the law in its use of equity swaps,Welcome to Michael Kors Handbags Outlet online now. said it intended “to vigorously contest the conclusions contained in this report” when the group appears before the AMF’s sanctions committee on May 31 to defend its actions. It insisted it would prove “the absence of any wrongdoing by LVMH towards the law and [AMF] rules”.
The AMF said in October last year that it had found evidence of “wrongdoing” and asked the sanctions committee to decide whether to impose penalties on LVMH. On Sunday, it said it had “no comment on a file which will shortly be examined by the sanctions committee”. Hermes also declined to comment.
Patrick Thomas, Hermes’ chief executive, said last month that the company had discovered “damning” evidence, leading it to take legal action against LVMH. It filed two suits last year that are independent of the AMF inquiry.
LVMH filed a countersuit alleging “slander, blackmail and unfair competition”.
The Hermes legal action suggests that it does not believe the AMF’s final decision will go far enough in forcing LVMH to give up or slash its shareholding.The Cheap Michael Kors Bags will provide you cheap but high-quality products.
The AMF has said that France’s rules on stakebuilding were “badly formulated”, and its recommendation to include equity swaps among instruments that count towards shares had been ignored when France tightened its disclosure rules in 2008.Welcome to our michael kors outlet online shop! Here we sale Buy Michael Kors, bags, purses, wallets with very low price. Join us quickly!
The LVMH stake has left a free float of less than 7 per cent in Hermes, since the Hermes family controls the company with a 72 per cent share and a corporate structure that makes it virtually impervious to take over – unless the family itself were to disunite.
The report, “vigorously contested” by LVMH, added an incendiary new twist to an acrimonious battle between the two companies.
The dispute erupted when LVMH announced in October 2010 that it held 17.1 per cent of family-controlled Hermes, which floated in 1993, in apparent breach of regulatory thresholds to declare stakes of 5, 10 and 15 per cent.
It triggered an inquiry by the regulator AMF and the filing of separate lawsuits by 176-year-old Hermes, famous for its scarves and bags, as it fought to fend off the unwelcome intrusion by LVMH, whose brands include Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Dom Pérignon champagne.
LVMH, which now owns 22.6 per cent of Hermes, has always maintained that its intentions were friendly and that it had not intended to acquire the stake,Discover the largest collection of gucci handbags for women. saying it opted to take shares instead of cash to avoid paying a big capital gains tax bill on Hermes equity swap derivatives that it held.
Mr Arnault, chairman and chief executive, told shareholders at LVMH’s annual meeting last month that the group had ended up with the stake “in an unexpected manner”.
But according to a report prepared for the AMF’s sanctions committee, leaked to Le Monde newspaper,Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store. LVMH first considered acquiring shares from Hermes family members and on the open market. Instead, it mounted an operation from 2007 under which it used a series of subsidiaries and banks to acquire equity swaps in tranches adding up to 12.2 per cent of Hermes but which did not individually exceed 5 per cent and which were “undetectable by the public”. These were later converted into shares.
The report said the earlier acquisition by LVMH of a 4.9 per cent stake in Hermes in 2001-02 was completed via vehicles in Luxembourg, the US state of Delaware and Panama that were not detailed in the group’s consolidated accounts.
In a statement, LVMH, which has always maintained that it acted within the law in its use of equity swaps,Welcome to Michael Kors Handbags Outlet online now. said it intended “to vigorously contest the conclusions contained in this report” when the group appears before the AMF’s sanctions committee on May 31 to defend its actions. It insisted it would prove “the absence of any wrongdoing by LVMH towards the law and [AMF] rules”.
The AMF said in October last year that it had found evidence of “wrongdoing” and asked the sanctions committee to decide whether to impose penalties on LVMH. On Sunday, it said it had “no comment on a file which will shortly be examined by the sanctions committee”. Hermes also declined to comment.
Patrick Thomas, Hermes’ chief executive, said last month that the company had discovered “damning” evidence, leading it to take legal action against LVMH. It filed two suits last year that are independent of the AMF inquiry.
LVMH filed a countersuit alleging “slander, blackmail and unfair competition”.
The Hermes legal action suggests that it does not believe the AMF’s final decision will go far enough in forcing LVMH to give up or slash its shareholding.The Cheap Michael Kors Bags will provide you cheap but high-quality products.
The AMF has said that France’s rules on stakebuilding were “badly formulated”, and its recommendation to include equity swaps among instruments that count towards shares had been ignored when France tightened its disclosure rules in 2008.Welcome to our michael kors outlet online shop! Here we sale Buy Michael Kors, bags, purses, wallets with very low price. Join us quickly!
The LVMH stake has left a free float of less than 7 per cent in Hermes, since the Hermes family controls the company with a 72 per cent share and a corporate structure that makes it virtually impervious to take over – unless the family itself were to disunite.
没有评论:
发表评论