LVMH buys Bulgari in €3.7bn deal

French fashion colossus LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton is adding another jewel to its crown.

The Paris-based holding company behind luxury brands Christian Dior gowns, Dom Perignon champagne and Guerlain perfume, has agreed to buy Rome-based jeweller Bulgari SpA in a cash-and-shares deal worth €4.3bn.

The deal will see Bulgari’s founding family become the second largest family shareholders in LVMH behind that of Chief Executive Bernard Arnault.

France’s richest man, Arnault has grown LVMH into a €20bn company since its reation in 1987, acquiring an impressive portfolio of luxury brands that extends to Chateau d’Yquem wine and TAG Heuer watches.

His latest takeover adds the fabled jeweller favoured by Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor, whose collection included an 18-carat emerald brooch surrounded by diamonds – the only piece of jewellery she wore to her first wedding to Richard Burton. The jeweller also designed the 1967 gold, emerald, ruby and sapphire necklace worn by Keira Knightley at the Oscars in 2006.

LVMH said in a statement it will exchange 16.5 million of its own shares for the 56 % stake in Bulgari owned by the company’s founding family.

LVMH will offer the remaining Bulgari shareholders €12.25 per share in a public offering. Following the deal, the Bulgari family will own 3 % of LVMH.

Bulgari is the smallest among the major luxury watch and jewellery makers. It was started in 1884 by Greek immigrant Sotirios Bulgari, who opened the flagship Via Condotti store in Rome in 1905, and has expanded to more than 260 stores.