Arnault insures LVMH against future family feuds

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault attends the Viva Technology conference in Paris, France, June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Martin Bureau/Pool

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Bernard Arnault is finally in succession planning mode. On Thursday, the fashion king announced that Agache, the holding company that owns 48% of French luxury and drinks conglomerate LVMH (LVMH.PA) and 63% of its voting rights, will turn into a limited liability joint-stock partnership, a structure that gives his five children control for decades.

At least Arnault, 73, who earlier this year got the shareholders of his 318 billion euro luxury business to lift his retirement age to 80, is not wasting time. His children are for now climbing their respective professional ladders within the group, and no one has so far emerged as heir apparent. When the moment comes, they will all have to agree on a successor.

What if they don’t? The shares in Agache’s controlling structure can’t be sold for 30 years. Arnault may have confined his children to a Sartrian no exit, where hell is other siblings. (By Pierre Briancon)

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(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are their own.)

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