LVMH deal spurs rally in Moncler, speculation about luxury sector M&A
LVMH takes small stake in Moncler
Moncler shares jump as much as 15% on news of the deal
Deal reinforces LVMH's luxury sector dominance
Adds details
By Mimosa Spencer and Anna Pruchnicka
PARIS, Sept 27 (Reuters) -Shares in Moncler MONC.MI rose sharply on Friday after French rival LVMH LVMH.PA invested in the Italian outerwear specialist, fuelling speculation about the long-term intentions of the owner of Louis Vuitton and Moet & Chandon champagne.
Analysts said the news would likely revive speculation of a potential takeover of Moncler in the long term, but focused on the near-term advantages of the deal for LVMH, which reinforced its dominance in the $400 billion luxury sector.
Shares in Moncler, which had fallen 6.5% this year, jumped as much as 15% in early trade after it was announced late on Thursday that LVMH had purchased a 10% stake in Double R, the investment vehicle controlled by Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini's Ruffini Partecipazioni Holding. Double R currently has a 15.8% stake in Moncler.
The deal amounts to an around 1.6% stake for LVMH in Moncler with the potential to grow it to 4% over the next 18 months, analysts said.
"LVMH is getting maybe the opportunity down the road to be in the first row if and when Moncler could be up for grabs," said Luca Solca, analyst at Bernstein.
Moncler shares were up 10% by 0944 GMT, while shares in LVMH, down 7.5% year-to-date amid a slowdown in the luxury sector, were 2% higher.
Milan-based Moncler, famed for its upmarket puffer jackets and one of the industry's biggest success stories in recent years, had been seen as a potential acquisition target or merger candidate for rival luxury groups seeking to expand.
LUXURY SECTOR BOOST
While LVMH's stake is currently small, and will likely remain small for a while, the agreement recalls the French group's investment in Italian luxury shoemaker Tod's, said JPMorgan.
A longstanding shareholder in Tod's, LVMH in 2021 raised its stake in the Italian group to 10% in a move that sources at the time described of "friendly support".
"While LVMH has a track record of driving consolidation in the sector, it has also proven that it can play as a minority shareholder and a partner for the long term too," said JP Morgan.
News of the deal came on the day that Reuters reported China planned further stimulus measures, which boosted luxury shares, spurring hopes it will revive spending on high end goods.
Investors have grown jittery about a slowdown in the luxury sector, particularly weakness in the key Chinese market, hit by slowing economic growth and a property crisis.
"From LVMH's perspective, we view this deal as opportune given current weakness across the luxury sector," said Piral Dadhania, analyst at RBC.
Moncler's ratio of 12-month forward enterprise value to EBITDA is 10.66, compared with 31 for Hermes HRMS.PA, which is the best performing luxury stock in recent years.
Dadhania said that minority investments into well-established groups were "the next best alternative use of excess cash" as LVMH avoids share buybacks due to potential new taxes on such transactions in France, and while there is a lack of sufficiently large and credible M&A targets.
Before the pandemic, Moncler had been seen as a potential tie-up candidate for French fashion group Kering PRTP.PA.
Kering has since purchased high end perfumer Creed and a stake in red carpet label Valentino, while focusing on reviving sales at its star label Gucci, which fell behind rivals in recent years.
Announcing the Moncler deal on Thursday, LVMH stressed support for Ruffini's vision for the outerwear giant.
Ruffini has fuelled Moncler's growth through buzzy collaborations with fashion designers and celebrity-packed events, as well as acquisitions, purchasing smaller outerwear label Stone Island in 2020.
Shine comes off luxury shares https://tmsnrt.rs/3Bmd9yM
Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka, Mimosa Spencer and Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Amanda Cooper, David Evans and Susan Fenton
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
