Richemont buys watch firm, sells luxury leather goods company

Luxury goods holding company Richemont SA [JSE: CFR] announced on Monday it would be adding UK retailer Watchfinder.co.uk to its portfolio, while selling its French luxury leather goods subsidiary Lancel.

With the acquisition of Watchfinder, Richemont expands its online business, which currently has a stake in Dufry and fashion retailer YOOX NET-A-PORTER.

Watchfinder trades luxury second-hand watches. A private transaction had been concluded to acquire 100% of Watchfinder's shares, Richemont said. It did not disclose what had been paid.

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Richemont chairperson Johann Rupert said: "We believe there are substantial opportunities to help grow the Company further. Today, Watchfinder operates both as an 'online' and 'offline' business in a complementary, growing, and still relatively unstructured segment of the industry."

With the acquisition of Watchfinder, Richmond expands its online business. Currently the company has a stake in Dufry and fashion retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter. 

The transaction between the two companies is expected to be finalised by summer 2018.

Buy one, sell one 

Richemont also announced that it had completed the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, luxury goods company Lancel.

Lansel has been sold Milan Stock Exchange-listed Italian luxury leather goods group Piquadro.  

The transaction will have no material impact on Richemont's balance sheet, cash flow or results for the year ending 31 March 2019, the company said.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2018, Richemont reported sales of Euro 10 979 million, operating profit of Euro 1 844 million and profit for the year of Euro 1 221 million.

Richemont shares were trading at R117.30 at 12.54pm on Monday, up 0.89%.

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