Alain Chevalier

LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE ([moɛt‿ɛnɛsi lwi vɥitɔ̃]), also known as LVMH, is a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris (France). The company was formed in 1987 under the merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy, a company formed after the 1971 merger between the champagne producer Moët & Chandon and Hennessy, the cognac manufacturer. It controls around 60 subsidiaries that each manage a small number of prestigious brands. The subsidiaries are often managed independently. The oldest of the LVMH brands is wine producer Château d'Yquem, which dates its origins back to 1593.

Christian Dior SE is the main holding company of LVMH, owning 40.9% of its shares, and 59.01% of its voting rights. Bernard Arnault, majority shareholder of Dior, is Chairman and CEO of both companies. In 2017, Arnault purchased all the remaining Christian Dior shares in a reported $13.1 billion buy out. The Dapifer reports that LVMH will gain ownership of Christian Dior haute couture, leather, both men's and women's ready-to-wear, and footwear lines.

Arnault's successful integration of various famous aspirational brands into a single group has inspired other luxury companies to do the same. Thus, the French conglomerate Kering and the Swiss-based Richemont have also created extended portfolios of luxury brands. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

In the 1990s Bernard Arnault had the idea to create a group of luxury brands.

Co-founder Alain Chevalier died 1 November 2018, aged 87.

LVMH is headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. The company is listed on the Euronext Paris exchange, and is a constituent of the CAC 40 index. As of 2010, the group had revenues of €20.3 billion with a net income of just over €3 billion. By 29 February 2016, the company had a share value of 78,126 million euros, distributed in 506,980,299 shares. In 2013, with revenue of $21,7 billion, LVMH was ranked first luxury goods company in Deloitte's "Global Powers of Luxury Goods" report. The group currently employs more than 83,000 people. Thirty percent of LVMH's staff work in France. LVMH operates over 2,400 stores worldwide. Its current business plan aims to tightly control the brands it manages in order to maintain and heighten the perception of luxury relating to their products. For example, Louis Vuitton products are sold only through Louis Vuitton boutiques found in upmarket locations in wealthy cities or in concessions in other luxury goods shops (such as Harrods in London).

Shareholders

At the end of 2017, the only declared major shareholder in LVMH was Arnault Family Group, the holding company of Bernard Arnault. The group's control amounted to 46.84% of LVMH's stock and 63.13% of its voting rights.

LVMH holds 66% of the drinks division, Moët Hennessy, with the remaining 34% held by Diageo.

In January 2018, LVMH announced record sales of 42.6 billion Euros in 2017, up 13% over the previous year, as all divisions turned in strong performances. In the same year, the net profit increased 29%.

Subsidiaries

A partial list including some of LVMH's best-known brands and subsidiaries:

• Conglomerates owned - Christian Dior

Make Up For Ever was established in 1984. and was acquired by LVMH in 1999.

On 7 March 2011, LVMH announced the acquisition of the 50.4% family-owned shares of the Italian jeweller Bulgari and the intention to make a tender offer for the rest, which was publicly owned. The transaction was about $5.2 billion. In 2011, LVMH invested $640 million in establishing LCapitalAsia.

On 7 March 2013, National Business Daily reported that mid-priced clothing brand QDA would open stores with the assistance of LVMH's private equity LCapitalAsia and the Chinese apparel company Xin Hee Co., Ltd. in Beijing. In 2011, LVMH invested $640 million in establishing LCapitalAsia. LVMH sales "decreased by about 10 percent from in 2011" in China, and LVMH stopped "opening stores in second and third-tier cities in mainland China". Xue Shengwen, a senior researcher at ChinaVenture, said the developing trend of the market is to take advantage of more acceptable prices.

In February 2014, LVMH entered into a joint venture with the Italian fashion brand Marco De Vincenzo, taking a minority 45% stake in the firm. On

12 May 2019 the fashion house Fenty, styled as FEИTY, created by singer Rihanna was launched by LVMH in Paris. It is the first new fashion house by LVMH in 32 years and she is the first woman of colour to head a brand under LVMH.

Launched in 2011,Journées Particulières allow visitors to enter scores of ateliers, studios, caves and mansions within the LVMH, with no admission charge. “For the first edition we were not at all certain that the public would come. I speak about that with some emotion. I remember coming along avenue Montaigne at 8AM that first morning and seeing hundreds of people, families, elderly ladies and little kids waiting for the doors of avenue Montaigne 30 to open and I thought we are going to write a beautiful page in history,” said Arnault, referring to Christian Dior's headquarters. It is staged every two years, and has opened doors in France, Italy, Switzerland, UK, Holland, Spain and Germany, with 56 brands welcoming guests into over 70 sites on four continents. The 2017 issue attracted 145000 visitors.

LVMH is a major patron of art in France. The group supported about ten exhibitions as "Le grand monde d’Andy Warhol" and "Picasso et les maîtres" at le Grand Palais in Paris. LVMH also endorsed the patronage of "l’atelier d’Alberto Giacometti" and "Yves Klein" at Centre Georges Pompidou.

Since 2005, when the LVMH flagship store opened in Paris at 3, avenue George V, 75008, the company presented close collaboration with contemporary artists. Features included a light sculpture by American James Turrell, a 20-metre (65 feet) long "travelling staircase" showcasing the work of American video artist Tim White-Sobieski and an elevator linking the store to the top floor by Iceland's Olafur Eliasson.

In 2006, gallery space was inaugurated on the second floor of the same building and named "Espace Culturel". "Icônes" was one of the first exhibitions. Shigeru Ban, Sylvie Fleury, Zaha Hadid, Bruno Peinado, Andrée Putman, Ugo Rondinone, James Turrell, Tim White-Sobieski and Robert Wilson were the nine artists invited by Louis Vuitton to participate in it.

In addition, LVMH foundation created the "young creators LVMH award", an international competition opened to French and international beaux-arts students. Each year, six grants are allocated to the winners.

In November 2013, LVMH created the LVMH Young Fashion Designer Prize, which comes with a €300,000 grant with a year of mentoring and is the brainchild of Delphine Arnault. The first winner has been chosen in 2014.-In February 2014 20 finalist for the prize were shown in London, such as Simone Rocha, Thomas Tait, Meadham Kirchhoff, Marques'Almeida, J JS Lee, and others. In May 2015 Marques'Almeida was announced as the second winner.

LVMH underwrites other fashion competitions, including the Andam prize in France, the International Festival of Fashion and Photography in Hyères, France, an investment fund for young designers created by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, and a scholarship program and sponsored lecture theater at Central Saint Martins in London.

The group also lends Stradivarius violins to young talented musicians. Maxim Vengerov and Laurent Korcia have used the instruments.

In 2014, LVMH opened the Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Creation in a new building designed by Frank Gerry in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. The Fondation is designed the Group's own museum to present its collections and organize majors world-class arts exhibitions.

On August 26, 2019, Bernard Arnault has declared that LVMH will donate $11 million to help fight the 2019 Brazil wildfires.

On 24 May 2018, LVMH made the e-commerce push by investing in an online fashion search business Lyst as the world's biggest luxury brands to expand their presence online and capture younger shoppers. It is injecting over $60 million into Lyst where LVMH is leading, a $60 million funding round to which it has contributed about 45 percent. Lyst plans to use the new funding by tapping LVMH's deep international expertise and also, to drive global expansion.