Bernard Arnault is reorganizing his holding company Agache SE in order to turn it into a family group, controlled by the Arnault family.
Agache SE is the holding company controlled by Bernard Arnault, which owns LVMH. The press release issued on Thursday, July 21, states that the group was transforming the company into a limited partnership: “The LVMH group is a family-owned group whose mission is to support the long-term development of each of its brands while respecting their uniqueness and strength. In this respect, the transformation of Agache into a limited partnership announced today, which does not change its current shareholding, ensures the long-term continuity of its control over the LVMH group,” said Bernard Arnault, quoted in the Agache press release.
This choice is not a coincidence, as the limited partnership is recognized for its characteristics facilitating the transmission within a family business. It allows to dissociate management and ownership of the capital and also constitutes a dissuasive weapon against hostile takeover bids. It can be found in some large groups such as the tire manufacturer Michelin, the luxury brand Hermès, or Sofibol, the holding company of the Bolloré group.
Family transmission and control
The control of the company Agache will be exercised by its general partner Agache Commandité SAS, a company whose capital will be held equally by the five heirs of Bernard Arnault, explains the press release. With this operation, Bernard Arnault does not designate his successor and does not intend to hand over in the near future.
Namely, the five children of the businessman are already working in the LVMH group: Delphine Arnault is deputy CEO of Louis Vuitton and Antoine Arnault is both head of image and communication of LVMH and CEO of Berluti. Alexandre is Executive Vice President of Tiffany, Frédéric is CEO of Tag Heuer and Jean is Director of Marketing and Watch Development for Louis Vuitton.
The share capital of Agache will continue to be fully owned by the Arnault family group, now as a limited partner with Bernard Arnault as the first and only general manager of Agache, Agache Commandité SAS, which will be appointed general manager thereafter. The Supervisory Board will be composed of representatives of the limited partners. This new structure will ensure the long-term survival of family control and the uniqueness of the voice of the controlling shareholder within the Christian Dior and LVMH groups.
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Featured photo : © Lewis Joly
