So, it seems that my preferred watch brand, Hublot, is joining LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton), i.e. the Group which owns my preferred champagnes (among others: Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug and Ruinart!) and my preferred perfumer (Guerlain)!

Indeed, the LVMH Group has just announced yesterday the acquisition of the Swiss watchmaker Hublot. You perhaps remember, I have just published some news about Hublot for about 14 days.

From the official press release

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury group, announces
that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Hublot group, a top of the range
watchmaker enjoying very strong growth.
LVMH will acquire Hublot from Mr Carlo Crocco, who founded the group in 1980, and a company controlled by Mr Jean-Claude Biver, who has managed Hublot since 2004. […]

Having grown at a rapid pace since 2004, the brand achieved net revenue of more than CHF150 million in 2007 with an excellent profitability. A very significant increase in revenue is expected in 2008.
Today, Hublot has a very selective and efficient distribution network which is limited to 300 stores worldwide. […]

Jean-Claude Biver, the architect of the success of the Big Bang collection and the recent strong growth of Hublot, commented: “I am delighted that Hublot will be able to benefit from LVMH’s support and strategic leadership in the luxury goods industry and so maximise its growth potential in the years to come. I am happy to be pursuing this adventure and to be able to contribute to the development of LVMH’s watchmaking division alongside Philippe Pascal.”

Some extracts of the official presentation

Some information about the acquisition

The Hublot company was founded in 1980 by Carlo Crocco, who owned 80% of the shares, 20% being acquired by J.-C. Biver, when he joined Hublot as CEO in September 2004.

The acquisition price was not published but, based on different interviews and articles, it seems that the deal looks like the following:

• J.-C. Biver remains the CEO of Hublot, assisted by Ricardo Guadalupe as Managing Director.
• acquisition price = between 450 and 500 million CHF, i.e. 2.2x of the expected revenues 2008 (220 million CHF) and/or 12x of the projected operating profit of 2008
• 5-years objectives: doubling the revenues
• expansion market =  Asia
• willingness to continue to produce only 60% of the demands!

Conclusion

Let’s see now how this merge will work, and especially if Mr. Biver, the current CEO of Hublot, will stay at his position. He has recently stated in one of his interview, that he was not able to block the acquisition of Hublot by another company because he hasn’t reached the level of shares which would has allowed this control… On the other hand, it seems that he has some guarantees concerning his freedom and the one of his team.

And, it is funny to observe that Mr. Biver is one of the top5 worldwide collector of Château d’Yquem, Château which is owned by ….. LVMH!