WSJ UPDATE: Qatar Holding Buys Over 1% Of Luxury Group LVMH
March 15 2012 - 4:17PM
Dow Jones News
Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding has amassed a stake of
slightly more than 1% in French luxury goods group LVMH Louis
Vuitton Moet Hennessy (MC.FR), the latest in a series of
investments in France by the gas-rich emirate.
Qatar Holding holds a 1.03% interest in the company and has less
than 1% of voting rights in LVMH, the French company said in a
legal filing Thursday. Based on LVMH's share price of EUR135 at the
close on the Paris bourse Thursday, the stake is worth around
EUR699 million. Qatar Holding declined to comment.
Qatar has been on a buying spree in France in recent months,
pocketing an array of assets, from the highly publicized purchase
of soccer team Paris Saint-Germain to stakes in flagship companies
in heavy industry and the media.
State-owned Qatari funds have made their presence felt, buying
into 10% of French media company Lagardere SCA and 5.6% of
construction giant Vinci SA. The most recent of the tiny emirate's
purchases was a 2% stake in oil group Total SA, accumulated over
several months, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The acquisition of a stake in LVMH is not Qatar's first foray
into the luxury sector. The wife of the Qatari emir bought a
controlling stake in French handbag maker Le Tanneur & Cie in
May last year. In addition, the Persian Gulf state has
participation in London department store Harrods.
LVMH is controlled by company Chief Executive Bernard Arnault
and his family. The family owns 46% of the company, and 62% of
voting rights.
As of late 2011, Qatar Holding's investment in LVMH made it the
sixth-largest shareholder after the Arnault family, Paolo and
Nicola Bulgari, Amundi group and MFS group.
Since the beginning of 2011, LVMH stock has risen 9.7%,
outperforming the French CAC-40 benchmark index, which has fallen
5.9%.
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