Why Did Arnaud "Raid" Hermes?

　 Bernard Arnaud (Bernard Arnault) has a simple commercial creed. A few years ago, he summarized it in a book called La Passion Cr e ative. The book aims to show people that Arnaud is not only a smart manager but also an innovator. He created a new business empire? LVMH, the top luxury group.

"The basic principle is to be able to be able at the right time and at the right place. guarantee In the long term growth environment, we should seize the promising opportunities, "Arnaud said. This king of luxury jungle once again applies these principles to his French raid on Herm s.

Arnaud announced last week that he has accumulated a 17.1% stake in Hermes. This is beyond everyone's expectation, especially the ancient luxury company, which was founded in 1837, the Hermes family. What is even more wonderful is, at least for Arnaud and its shareholders, because Lu's price is lower than the average price of 80.50 euros per share. As Hermes shares have risen sharply, they have recorded huge book profits.

Although Arnaud claimed that he had no intention of hostile takeover, he would not seek board seats, but the Hermes family was obviously not willing to see Arnaud putting a foot in their company. The family said that the family was united, holding more than 70% of the company's shares, and the company also had anti takeover strategies and numerous "poison pill" plans.

That being the case, why is Arnaud not in Hermes? shares There are obvious reasons why there are some obvious reasons for the huge capital gains in the options, but there are some obvious reasons.

Most obviously, Arnaud is defending. In recent years, a number of French banks have accumulated a large number of Hermes shares (probably sold by family members). Therefore, the risk of competitors entering this leading luxury brand and gaining a firm foothold is always there. Richemont is an obvious candidate, but it has been speculated recently that the Chinese are also covying the company, especially after Hermes launched a new Chinese brand.

Arnaud obviously will not allow such a thing to happen, especially since he has long declared that he intends to add another star brand to his luxury kingdom. In addition to Hermes, there are few targets to meet its requirements.

But it is not the first time that Hermes and Lu Wei Mo Xuan, or at least the merger of MOET & CHANDON Hennessy (Moet-Hennessy), which was merged with Louis Weedon (Louis Vuitton) in 1985. In the 80s of last century, when Alan Chevalier (Alain Chevalier) took charge of MOET & CHANDON Hennessy, there were rumors of merger. In fact, when Arnaud took over the road in 1990, Chevalier bought a 15% stake in Hermes.

3 years later, Jean-Louis Dumas, the president and family leader of the late Hermes, brought along with him. Banker Go to Arnaud and ask for a return, because he wants Hermes to go public. In June, after Arnaud agreed to sell the 15% stake, Hermes went public. At that time, the economic environment was difficult, and Arnaud was busy reorganizing Lu Wei Ming Xuan to adjust its development direction. Du Mai is eager to make Hermes go public, because some family members want to cash their holdings, and listing can prevent them from quarrelling about the value of stocks.

He promoted the development of Hermes and developed it into an extremely successful luxury brand. Arnaud will admit this for the first time. Duer passed away this year because of a serious illness, but he passed the baton to Patrick Thomas four years ago. It was the first time in the history of Hermes that he was run by an outsider, Thomas. Thomas is 63 years old, and there are no obvious successors. The Hermes family claims to be united, but it also faces the fate that all family businesses can not escape. It is becoming too big and too many family members, and eventually some members want to cash in. After all, according to the current valuation, 0.1% of Hermes shares are worth 18 million euros ($24 million).

　 So for Arnaud, the timing is much better now. Arnaud was not worried at all. He is ready to buy more stocks and is ready to cooperate with Hermes. After all, because he used to hold 15% of the shares, he might feel that 17.1% of the stock right now is perfectly reasonable. In addition, although he has the image of a shark entrepreneur, he has a good record in creating value for shareholders and allowing his brand to develop freely. Some people even think that he has given too much freedom to his brand. This may explain why the Hermes family's response so far has been somewhat restrained.