====== LVMH ======
**LVMH** is the abbreviation for the French [[group|luxury goods group]] **Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy SA**. This group is considered the largest luxury goods conglomerate worldwide. The Chairman of the Board and, and majority shareholder with 60% equity, is Bernard Arnault.

The core business areas of the company are wine and spirits (20%), fashion and leather goods (34%), perfume and cosmetics (16%), Selective Retailing (duty-free shops, 25%) as well as watches and jewelery (5%). Examples of well-known brands are Christian Dior (Perfume), Louis Vuitton (leather), [[Zenith]] (watches), [[TAG Heuer]] (watches), Chaumet (jewelery), Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon (champagne). The most important markets for LVMH are the U.S., followed by France and Japan.

===== History =====
LVMH was formed in [[1987]] when [[Louis Vuitton]] and Moët Hennessy were combined. It was the world's largest producer of luxury goods and was controlled by Bernard Arnault under his Arnault Group after a hostile takeover in [[1988]]. In [[1995]], Arnault purchased Paris-based jewelry company, [[Fred]], as well as [[Benedom]], owner of [[Favre-Leuba]] and producer of [[Dior]] and [[Céline]] watches. Arnault had purchased [[Dior]] in [[1984]] and brought it to LVMH in [[1987]]. LVMH attempted by purchase [[Gucci]], acquiring 34% of the company's shares between [[1995]] and [[1999]], but rival [[PPR]] acquired that Italian fashion house instead.

LVMH continued to grow, with major acquisitions made in [[1999]]. First was French jewelry company [[Chaumet]], but it was the rapid acquisition of [[TAG Heuer]] (for CHF 1.2 billion) and [[Zenith]] that brought LVMH to prominence in the watchmaking world. [[Ebel]] was also acquired with Chaumet, and LVMH took over that company's "Private Label Development" ("PLD") arm in [[La Chaux-de-Fonds]], renaming it Les Ateliers Horlogers and focusing it on high-end watch development for Dior.

LVMH sold the [[Favre-Leuba]] brand to [[Valentin]] in March, [[2003]]. Favre-Leuba is today owned by [[Titan]], part of the Tata Group of India. [[Ebel]] was then sold to [[Movado Group]] in [[2003]] for just US$47.3 million. At this time, it was widely rumored that LVMH would exit the luxury watch business entirely.

This changed in April [[2008]], when LVMH took over [[Hublot]] for an estimated CHF 490 million. That company had been "resurrected" by [[Jean-Claude Biver]], who inspired a major drive upscale for LVMH. The group began consolidating Swiss watchmaking expertise, investing in its brands, and launching high-end pieces in its jewelry brands. The [[Louis Vuitton]] brand, launched in [[2002]], began developing high-end complications and watchmaking expertise at that time focused on the La Chaux-de-Fonds operations, now called "Ateliers Louis Vuitton". Hublot purchased the assets of bankrupt [[BNB Concept]] in [[2010]], and Louis Vuitton followed, acquiring the successor company [[La Fabrique du Temps]] the next year. LVMH next acquired [[Bulgari]] in [[2011]]. Like Hublot, Louis Vuitton created an in-house haute horology operation, [[La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton]], in [[2014]].

In [[2019]], LVMH announced that it would acquire the famous [[Tiffany]] company, reinforcing the group's retail and jewelry operations, especially in the United States market. This has lead to speculation that an acquisition of long-time Tiffany partner [[Patek Philippe]] is also in the works. The deal fell apart in [[2020]] but was re-initiated at a lower price later that year and completed on January 7, [[2021]].

[[As of 2010]], LVMH has many high-end watchmaking operations. [[TAG Heuer]] has been refocused on lower levels of the luxury watch market, with [[Zenith]], [[Hublot]], [[Bulgari]], and [[Louis Vuitton]] each operating as a [[maison]] and [[Tiffany]] operating independently and focusing on Jewelry.

===== Watch Brands =====
  * [[Bulgari]], acquired March 5, 2011
  * [[Céline]], acquired March, 1995
  * [[Chaumet]], acquired October 20, 1999
  * [[Dior]], brand acquired 1987, license regained in 2000
  * [[Fred]], acquired 1995
  * [[Hublot]], acquired April 24, 2008
  * [[Louis Vuitton|Louis Vuitton Watches]], launched 2002
  * [[TAG Heuer]], acquired September 13, 1999
  * [[Tiffany]], acquired January 7, 2021
  * [[Zenith]], acquired November 15, 1999

==== Former Brands ====
  * [[Ebel]], acquired October 20, 1999, divested December 23, 2003
  * [[Favre-Leuba]], acquired July, 1995, divested to [[Valentin]] in March, 2003

==== Licensed Watch Brands ====
  * [[DKNY]] ([[Fossil Group]])
  * [[Gant]] ([[Synoco Scandinavia]])
  * [[Fendi]] ([[Taramax]])
  * [[Givenchy]] ([[Jacques Bénédict]]/[[Time Force]])

==== Other Acquisitions ====
  * [[La Fabrique du Temps]], 2011
  * [[Léman Cadrans]], 2012

===== Weblinks =====
  *[[http://www.lvmh.com/|LVMH, offizielle official site]]
  *[[https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/77124/etd-07052012-132908_Cavender_RC_D_2012.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|The Evolution of Luxury: Brand Management of Luxury Brands, Old and New]], Carol Cavender Raye, 2012


{{tag>Abbreviations Watch_trusts LVMH}}