The Arnault family will simplify LVMH's ownership structure. What is the billionaire aiming to achieve?

Billionaire Bernard Arnault and his family plan to simplify the structure of the companies through which they control LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s largest luxury conglomerate. The changes are intended to ensure the family’s long-term position within the group, according to a statement from Christian Dior SE—a publicly traded company that holds a significant portion of the shares and voting rights in LVMH. Under the plan, Arnault’s shares and voting rights will be consolidated into a single entity—Agache SCA—into which Christian Dior SE will be merged.

Currently, the Arnault-Agache family's holding structure owns 96% of the shares and 97.1% of the voting rights in Dior, as well as 6.77% of the shares and 8.49% of the voting rights in LVMH.

Following its merger with Dior, the combined Agache SCA entity will directly hold 49.76% of LVMH’s capital and 65.55% of its voting rights, according to a plan published by Christian Dior. Bernard Arnault—CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of LVMH—will serve as managing partner of Agache SCA. Virtually the entire Arnault family’s stake in LVMH will be concentrated within this unified structure. Currently, the family owns 50.33% of the group’s equity and 66.27% of the voting rights.

"Once these transactions are completed, control of LVMH will thus be exercised through a single company whose shares have been traded on Euronext Paris for more than 30 years," according to a statement from Christian Dior released on Wednesday.

This is the latest move by 77-year-old billionaire Bernard Arnault to strengthen his family’s control over the group he founded and to prepare for a future handover of management, Bloomberg explains. Investors are increasingly demanding greater clarity on the issue of succession, the agency notes.

LVMH shares fell 1.3% to €396.9 during trading in Paris on September 23. Christian Dior SE shares lost 0.9%, falling to €365.2. Since the beginning of the year, shares in both companies have fallen by more than 38%.

As part of the changes, Christian Dior’s minority shareholders will be offered two options: to sell their shares or to remain shareholders alongside the Arnault family in Agache—the new entity through which control of LVMH will be exercised.

According to stock exchange rules, the Arnault family will be required to make a cash offer to buy all Christian Dior shares that it does not already own. This amounts to 2.44% of the company’s capital. As of Tuesday, the value of this stake was approximately €1.63 billion ($1.85 billion), according to the statement.

An extraordinary shareholders’ meeting of Christian Dior SE, at which these changes are to be approved, will likely take place by the end of 2026, according to Bloomberg. The offering is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027 and will require approval from the French financial markets regulator, the AMF, the agency notes.

This isn't the first time the Arnault empire has been restructured. In 2017, the family had already simplified its ownership structure: LVMH acquired Christian Dior Couture from the Christian Dior SE holding company for €6.5 billion, while the Arnault family bought out a portion of the Christian Dior shares still held by minority shareholders. In 2017, the Arnault family did not delist Christian Dior SE entirely: minority shares remained after the tender offer. Thus, the restructuring that began 10 years ago will be completed in 2027.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor