Compagnie Financière Richemont SA is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988
by South African businessman Johann Rupert.
Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont designs, manufactures, distributes and sells
premium jewellery, watches, leather goods, writing instruments, firearms, clothing and
accessories.
Richemont is a publicly traded company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and on the JSE Securities
Exchange.
As of November 2012 Compagnie Financière Richemont SA is the sixth largest corporation
by market capitalization in the Swiss Market Index.
As of 2014, Richemont is the second-largest luxury goods company in the world.
History Johann Rupert founded Compagnie Financière
Richemont SA in 1988 when he spun out the international assets of Rembrandt Group Ltd.,
a South Africa-based company founded in the 1940s by his father, Dr. Anton Rupert.
The luxury goods investments of Rembrandt Group combined with Rothmans International
formed the initial group of Richemont subsidiaires.
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.
As of November 2012 Compagnie Financière Richemont SA is the sixth largest corporation
by market capitalization in the Swiss Market Index.
As of 2014, Richemont is the second-largest luxury goods company in the world.
Organization Compagnie Financière Richemont SA organizes
its business activities into four operating divisions: Jewellery Maisons, Specialist Watchmakers,
Maison Montblanc and Other Businesses.
Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels constitute the Jewellery Maisons.
The Specialist Watchmakers group is composed of A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, IWC,
Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin and the
joint venture with the Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry Co.
Montblanc is the sole member of the Maison Montblanc.
The Other Businesses division includes Alfred Dunhill, Alaïa, Chloé, Lancel, The Net-a-Porter
Group, Peter Millar, James Purdey & Sons and Shanghai Tang.
Ownership and control The largest significant shareholder of Compagnie
Financière Richemont SA is Compagnie Financière Rupert, a Swiss company that holds shares
controlled and principally owned by Johann Rupert.
Compagnie Financière Rupert owns 522,000,000 Class "B" shares of Compagnie Financière
Richemont SA, representing 9.1% of the equity and 50% of the voting rights.
Johann Rupert and Compagnie Financière Rupert also hold 2,836,664 class "A" shares or "A"
share equivalents as of the end of March 2012.
Investments Subsidiaries
The following companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA unless
otherwise noted.
Alfred Dunhill Limited — men's clothing, watches and leather goods; based in London,
United Kingdom Baume & Mercier SA — watches; based in Geneva,
Switzerland Cartier — jewellery and watches; based in
Paris, France Chloé — women's clothing; based in Paris,
France IWC International Watch Co.
AG — watches; based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland James Purdey & Sons Limited — firearms,
ammunition; based in London, United Kingdom Lancel — leathergoods; based in Paris, France
and with, as of February 2014, Marianne Romestain as chief executive officer
Lange Uhren GmbH — watches; based in Glashütte, Germany
Maison Azzedine Alaïa — women's fashions; based in Paris, France
Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre SA — watches; based in Le Sentier, Switzerland
Manufacture Roger Dubuis SA — watches; based in Geneva, Switzerland
Montblanc – Simplo GmbH — writing instruments and watches; based in Hamburg, Germany
Net-a-Porter — clothing sold via the Internet; based in London, United Kingdom
Officine Panerai Marketing e Communicazione Srl — watches; based in Florence, Italy
Peter Millar — men's and women's apparel; based in Durham, NC, USA
Piaget SA — jewellery, watches; based in Geneva, Switzerland
Shanghai Tang — men's and women's fashions; based in Hong Kong, China
Vacheron Constantin SA — watches; based in Geneva, Switzerland
Van Cleef & Arpels SA — jewellery, watches; based in Paris, France
Joint ventures Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Company SÀRL
— watches, jewellery; based in Geneva, Switzerland Former investments
Richemont acquired British clothing retailer Hackett Limited in 1992.
After the acquisition, Hackett Limited became a wholly owned subsidiary of Richemont.
On 2 June 2005, Richemont announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell Hackett
Limited to Spanish investment company Torreal S.C.R., S.A.
Richemont and Mimi So formed a joint venture in 2004, planning to expand the business.
This joint venture was Richemont's first investment in an American brand.
In 2007, Richemont requested to become the majority partner of the joint venture.
So declined and purchased Richemont's stake in the venture.
Due to changes in the tax laws of Luxemborg, Richemont decided to spin-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.
Notes
References
External links
Official website