Richemont urges shareholders to vote against Bluebell board nominee

The logo of luxury goods company Richemont is pictured at its headquarters in Bellevue near Geneva, Switzerland, June 2, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

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ZURICH, Aug 8 (Reuters) – Richemont (CFR.S) has asked shareholders to reject a nominee put forward by Bluebell Capital Partners for election to the luxury group’s board at its upcoming annual general meeting.

Bluebell is seeking a board seat for Francesco Trapani, the former head of Italian luxury brand Bulgari and co-founder of Bluebell at the meeting on September 7.

The activist fund manager wants Cartier owner Richemont to focus on jewelry and watches, saying it could double its share price in the medium term. Read more

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“After careful consideration, the Board recommends voting against the nomination of Bluebell’s nominee as representative of the ‘A’ stockholders, and against the election of that person to the Board,” Richemont said Monday.

Instead, Richemont proposed independent director Wendy Luhabe as a representative of these shareholders.

“The board further recommends voting against Bluebell’s proposed amendments to the company’s articles of association,” he added.

Bluebell, which last year triggered an overhaul of the management of French agribusiness group Danone, also wants to raise the minimum number of Richemont directors to six and have an equal number of representatives of “A” and “B” shareholders at the within the council.

Richemont is controlled by chairman Johann Rupert, who owns all the unlisted B shares, which represent 9.1% of the capital, but 51% of the voting rights of the company, which also manufactures IWC and Piaget watches.

Bluebell has been invested in Richemont for a year and a half and had a stake worth 105 million Swiss francs ($109 million), he told Reuters last month. Richemont has a market capitalization of almost 59 billion francs, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon.

($1 = 0.9609 Swiss francs)

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Reporting by John Revill Editing by Christopher Cushing and Mark Potter

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