Articles
Quarterly Investor Calls
ITUS Long & Short
ITUS Snippets
Articles
Quarterly Investor Calls
ITUS Long & Short
ITUS Snippets
by Vidya Vydianathan
March 28, 2024
Investing in growth in the public markets
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The story of LVMH and its meteoric growth was driven by its CEO, Bernard Arnault. However, very few people know about the history of Bernard, who was a corporate raider and business acquirer. Today’s story is not about how LVMH was built, but about how Bernard had two chances to acquire Gucci. The first opportunity arose in 1994 when Gucci was sold by the Bahrain-led entity, Investcorp, and was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was available for a value of USD 400mm, but Bernard let it go as he felt it was worth “nothing.” The second time was when Gucci was valued at USD 8.7bn, and Bernard acquired shares in the public market as Gucci was publicly traded. However, this time, Gucci was saved by its CEO, De Sole.
These entertaining events give an overview of why Gucci does not belong to LVMH today. For those who love fashion and high street, the article below is a fascinating read – it has it all.
https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/1999/7/gucci-and-goliath