Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A.
Company typePublic (Société Anonyme)
IndustryLuxury goods
PredecessorRembrandt Group Limited
Founded1988; 36 years ago (1988) in Geneva, Switzerland
FounderJohann Rupert
Headquarters
Bellevue
,
Switzerland
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Johann Rupert (Chairman)
(Group CEO)
Products
RevenueIncrease €19.95 billion[1] (2023)
Increase €5.031 billion[1] (2023)
Decrease €0.301 billion[1] (2023)
Total assetsIncrease €40.89 billion[1] (2023)
Total equityDecrease €19.02 billion[1] (2023)
OwnerCompagnie Financière Rupert (Rupert family) (10% equity, 51% voting power)[1]
Number of employees
33,959[1] (2023)
Divisions
  • Jewellery Maisons
  • Specialist Watchmakers
  • Other Businesses
SubsidiariesSee § Subsidiaries
Websiterichemont.com

Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells jewellery, watches, leather goods, pens, firearms, clothing, and accessories. Richemont is publicly traded as CFR on the SIX Swiss Exchange[2] and the JSE.[3]

The brands it owns include A. Lange & Söhne, Alaïa, AZ Factory, Baume & Mercier, Buccellati, Cartier, Chloé, Delvaux, Dunhill, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Mr Porter, Net-a-Porter, Panerai, Piaget, Peter Millar, Purdey, Roger Dubuis, Serapian, The Outnet, TimeVallée, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Watchfinder & Co., and Yoox.

As of 2017, Richemont was the third-largest luxury goods company in the world after LVMH and Estée Lauder Companies.[4] As of October 2023, Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. was the sixth-largest corporation by market capitalization in the Swiss Market Index.[5]

History

Johann Rupert founded Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. when he spun off the international assets of Rembrandt Group Ltd. (now Remgro Limited), a South Africa-based company founded in the 1940s by his father, Anton Rupert.[6][7] The division, originally founded on 5 March 1979 as Intercontinental Mining and Resources S.A., was later renamed IMR Group S.A. on 31 March 1987 and finally Richemont S.A. on 17 August 1988. The spin-off was completed on 20 September 1988. The luxury goods investments of Rembrandt Group combined with Rothmans International formed the initial group of Richemont subsidiaries.[8][9]

In March 2007, Richemont and Polo Ralph Lauren Inc. announced the formation of a 50/50 joint venture, the Polo Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Company SÀRL.[10]

In October 2008, the Group divested all of its remaining interests in the tobacco industry.[11]

As of 2014, Richemont is the second-largest luxury goods company in the world after LVMH.[12]

The compensation of the Richemont group's executives increased by an average of 14% in 2018.[13]

As of October 2023, Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. was the sixth-largest corporation by market capitalization in the Swiss Market Index.[5]

Organization

Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. organizes its business activities into three operating divisions: Jewellery Maisons, Specialist Watchmakers, and Other Businesses.[1]

Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Buccellati constitute the Jewellery Maisons.[1]

The Specialist Watchmakers group is composed of A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, and Vacheron Constantin.[1]

The Other Businesses division includes Alaïa, AZ Factory, Chloé, Delvaux, Dunhill, Montblanc, Peter Millar, Purdey, and Serapian.[1]

Ownership and control

As of 2023, Compagnie Financière Rupert, a Swiss company that holds shares controlled and principally owned by Johann Rupert, is the only significant shareholder of Richemont with 3% or more of the voting rights. It holds 6,263,000 Richemont Class "A" shares and 522,000,000 Richemont Class "B" registered shares, representing 10% of the equity of the company and controlling 51% of the company’s voting rights.[14]

Investments

Subsidiaries

Richemont's portfolio is made up of Maisons (brands).

The following companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., unless otherwise noted.[1]

Jewellery

Specialist watchmakers

Fashion and accessories

Joint ventures

Former investments

Richemont acquired British clothing retailer Hackett Limited in 1992.[16] On 2 June 2005, Richemont announced its sale to Spanish investment company Torreal S.C.R., S.A.[17][18]

In 1998, Richemont bought a controlling stake in Shanghai Tang.[19] In July 2017, Richemont announced that it had sold Shanghai Tang to a group of investors headed by Italian entrepreneur Alessandro Bastagli.[20][21]

In 2000, the Group sold its minority stake in Vivendi, representing its exit from all previous media interests, which had included NetHold and Canal+.

Richemont and Mimi So formed a joint venture in 2004,[22][23] Richemont's first investment in an American brand.[24] In 2007, Richemont requested to become the majority partner of the joint venture. Mimi So declined and purchased Richemont's stake in the venture.

In 2008, Richemont spun off all of its non-luxury goods businesses, principally Richemont's stake in British American Tobacco, into a newly formed, separately traded holding company, Reinet Investments S.C.A.[25][26][27]

In 2015, the Net-a-Porter Group was merged with the YOOX Group in an all-share transaction.[28][29] In August 2022, Richemont sold a 47.5% stake in Yoox Net-a-Porter to Farfetch, and a 3.2% stake to Mohamed Alabbar. This allows Richemont to deconsolidate Yoox Net-a-Porter.[30]

In 2018, Richemont sold Lancel to the Italian leather goods company Piquadro Group.

Website blocking

In October 2014, the first blocking order against trademark-infringing consumer goods was passed against the major British Internet service providers by Richemont, Cartier International and Montblanc to block several domains selling trademark-infringing products.[31]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Annual Report and Accounts 2023" (PDF). Richemont. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  2. ^ "RICHEMONT N". SIX Group. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  3. ^ Last, First. "List of companies with secondary listings on the JSE (as at 30 June 2023)" (PDF). South African Reserve Bank. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  4. ^ Global Powers of Luxury Goods 2019
  5. ^ a b "Swiss Market Index SMI Total Return" (PDF). SIX Group. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  6. ^ Remgro 2011.
  7. ^ International Directory of Company Histories 2007.
  8. ^ Richemont. "History, including Significant Investments and Divestments". Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  9. ^ Domisse & Esterhuyse 2009, pp. 322–324.
  10. ^ "Richemont and Polo Ralph Lauren announce the formation of The Polo Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewellery Company". Richemont.com. Retrieved 5 March 2007.
  11. ^ "Richemont to Spin Off Its Tobacco Holdings". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  12. ^ Clark, Nicola (15 May 2014). "European Sales Help Luxury Group Richemont Balance a Decline in Asia (Published 2014)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023.
  13. ^ "Salaires en hausse pour les dirigeants de Richemont". Le Temps. 29 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Capital structure". Richemont.com. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Company to unveil its first timepieces at Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie 2009". Ralph Lauren Watches. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
  16. ^ Menkes 2010.
  17. ^ Butler 2005.
  18. ^ Richemont 2005.
  19. ^ Mulier, Thomas (3 July 2017). "Richemont Sells Shanghai Tang as China Prefers Foreign Swank". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  20. ^ Muret, Dominique (6 December 2018). "Chinese label Shanghai Tang sold to Lunar Capital group". Fashion Network. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  21. ^ Segreti, Giulia (21 February 2018). "Italian investor looks to rev up Shanghai Tang sales". Reuters. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  22. ^ Thompson 2004.
  23. ^ Karimzadeh 2004.
  24. ^ Elite Traveler 2010.
  25. ^ Richemont 2012a.
  26. ^ Gelnar 2007, p. A.13.
  27. ^ Reinet 2012.
  28. ^ "Richemont Annual Report and Accounts 2015" (PDF). Richemont.com. Retrieved 5 June 2015.[permanent dead link]
  29. ^ Richemont, Richemont. "Merger of Net-A-Porter with YOOX completed with a significant one-off accounting gain estimated between € 610 and € 670 million". Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  30. ^ Faithfull, Mark (24 August 2022). "Farfetch Marches On As It Acquires Major Stake In Yoox Net-A Porter". Forbes. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  31. ^ Little, Trevor. "Landmark judgment handed down in dispute between Richemont and ISPs". Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.

References

External links

Brands owned by Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A.
Swiss Market Index companies of Switzerland
Swiss Leader Index companies of Switzerland
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Authority control databases
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