An investor has reportedly intimated to Richemont that it believes the group should focus on what has always traditionally been its bread and butter: watches and jewelry.
It was revealed on Tuesday that UK activist fund manager Bluebell Capital Partners has requested changes to the board and operation at luxury group Richemont.
Richemont’s watch and jewelry portfolio includes Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, A. Lange & Sohne, Piaget, Montblanc and Buccellati.
Its ecommerce businesses range from Watchfinder and Net-a-Porter to Yoox and The Outnet.
It is reported that Bluebell is requesting changes to the Richemont board, including the appointment of Francesco Trapani, former CEO of Bulgari.
Reports also suggest that Bluebell has told the Richemont board that the company would be best served sticking to its core markets – namely, watches and jewelry.
Marco Taricco, a partner at Bluebell, told Reuters: “”We would like them to focus on what they are good at, which is hard luxury – jewelry and watches.”
He added: “We think there is no better person on the planet than Francesco Trapani to contribute and add value to the Richemont board.”
Jewelry maisons and specialist watchmakers generate around 80% of Richemont’s turnover.
In its latest quarterly financials the group reported €3 billion from jewelry maisons and €1 billion from watchmakers. They grew at 12% and 10% respectively.
Online Distributors, the part of the business where its ecommerce companies reside, generated sales of €691 million and grew at 2%. Even Richemont’s own report called that sluggish growth rate “muted sales progression”.
