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mergers and acquisitions

Family owned Fiat Chrysler, LVMH move on multi-billion dollar mergers

October 31, 2019

European family business titans Fiat Chrysler and LVMH look to consolidate their dominance in their automaking and luxury goods markets in an uncertain world by eyeing multi-billion dollar mergers.

European family business titans Fiat Chrysler and LVMH look to consolidate their dominance in their automaking and luxury goods markets in an uncertain world by eyeing multi-billion dollar mergers.

The Italian Agnelli family, which controls Fiat Chrysler through its holding company Exor, was expected to approve the proposed $48 billion union with Peugeot-owner PSA, itself 12.2% owned by the French Peugeot family.

Belmond buy signals launch into experiential luxury for LVMH

December 21, 2018

LVMH’s $3.2 billion acquisition of luxury hotelier and travel operator Belmond is a major strategic turning point that will open up a whole new market for the world’s largest luxury company, one expert suggests.

LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton), owned by the Arnault family, has agreed to buy Belmond as it pushes into ‘experiental’ luxury.

Idemitsu Kosan and Tata Steel in wave of family mergers

July 6, 2018

The hot streak of multi-billion dollar mergers and acquisitions among major family businesses this year shows no signs of cooling with separate integrations involving Japan’s oil family Idemitsu and India’s steel family Tata.

Idemitsu Kosan, Japan’s second-largest oil wholesaler, is controlled by the founding Idemitsu family. Discussions have resumed with the country’s fourth-ranked rival refiner Showa Shell Sekiyu for a “business integration to enhance the corporate value of both companies,” Idemitsu Kosan said.

FB Roundup: Akka Technologies, Walmart, and Mars

June 7, 2018

Akka enters US aerospace, Walmart sells majority of Brazil business, and Mars invests $1 billion in sustainability

Akka enters US aerospace

The rapidly growing Akka Technologies is making good on its promise to conquer the US, acquiring PDS Tech for an undisclosed sum.

FB Roundup: Dassault Group, JAB Holding, and Brown-Forman

May 31, 2018

French industrialist Serge Dassault dies, JAB Holding adds Pret to portfolio, and Jack Daniels maker Brown-Forman appoints second successive non-family CEO

French icon Serge Dassault dies aged 93

The controversial French industrialist and politician Serge Dassault, chairman of the eponymous aviation and software giant Dassault Group, has died aged 93.

The nonagenarian, who took over the business after his father’s death in 1986, is understood to have died at the headquarters of Dassault Aviation, according to French media reports.

Dr Pepper deal signals advantage of family firms’ long term horizons

February 2, 2018

JAB Holdings has cooled its coffee spending spree, striking a deal to buy its first cold drinks company, Dr Pepper Snapple, in a move which has bemused market commentators.

JAB Holdings has cooled its coffee spending spree, striking a deal to buy its first cold drinks company, Dr Pepper Snapple, in a move which has bemused market commentators.

Luxembourg-based JAB, which mainly controls the wealth of Germany’s Reimann family, has announced it will buy the US soft drink maker for $18.7 billion, and merge it with coffee pod producer Keurig Green Mountain, which JAB bought in 2015.

FB Roundup: Bacardi, Lidl, and C&A

January 26, 2018

Bacardi buys Patron for $5.1 billion, Lidl slows US expansion, and C&A eyes China

Bacardi buys Patrón for $5.1 billion

Family-owned Bacardi is tapping into the growing popularity of tequila, buying premium brand Patrón.

The companies said in a statement tequila is one of the fastest-growing categories in the spirits industry, with “Patrón being the clear market leader in the super-premium segment”.

FB Roundup: Essilor-Luxottica, Mulberry, and Nobel Sustainability Growth Fund

December 14, 2017

Essilor-Luxottica to hire chief executive, losses widen for British bag maker, and £100m sustainability fund launches

Essilor-Luxottica to hire chief executive

A position heading the company created by the €50 billion ($59 billion) merger of Luxottica and Essilor is about open up, with the firms acknowledging they will look for a new chief executive for the eyewear giant.

Hubert Sagnières, chairman and chief executive of Essilor, told the Financial Times he was “too old” for the new gig and confirmed the newly-created company would hire a new chief.

FB Roundup: CMA CGM, Koch brothers, and Bharti family

November 30, 2017

CMA completes father-son transition, Koch brothers in controversial takeover, and Bharti family donate 10% of wealth

CMA completes father-son transition

Rodolphe Saadé has taken over as chairman of container shipping firm CMA CGM, the business which his father founded and which made his family billionaires.

Lebanese-French businessman Jacques Saadé founded CMA container shipping in Marseille in 1978, later acquiring logistics company CGM. The Saadé family, worth an estimated $1.86 billion according to Forbes, own 75% of CMA CGM.

FB Roundup: Gina Rinehart, family office deals, and Costco

August 11, 2017

Billionaire faces down tiny fly; Family offices looking to brands, Spanish assets; and Costco founder Jeff Brotman dies suddenly

Billionaire faces down tiny fly

Australia’s richest woman is having her ambitions to export cattle to China foiled by a tiny fly.

Mining billionaire Gina Reinhart wants to ship 300,000 live cattle to China each year, to feed the country’s burgeoning middle class.