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Remember that in 2001, JLC was sold for the highest price of any brand to date....
from Mannesmann in Germany to Vendome (Richemont). The price was 3.02 billion (!) Swiss Francs. Fortune magazine in November 2001 said, "To sweeten the deal, Mannesmann 'threw in' A Lange & Sohne and IWC."
Vendome wanted JLC's movement making abilities in order to get off Swatch Group and they cloned the factory to create "Val-Fleurier" the Richemont think tank for movement develpment.
Frankly, if JLC went private with a very long-term goal of building the brand and marketing it into what it SHOULD be, this could be very good for the brand. Let's hold our breath anther day and see.
-Dean
Apparently Jerome Lambert is in talks to buy JLC from Richemont
Posted by Miss Tweed this morning: ‘ Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Jérôme Lambert is in talks to buy the brand from Richemont using his own funds and backing from partners, several industry sources said. The deal would value the heritage watch brand at more than 1...
Indeed 👍🏻🤞🏻
Although if it is a PE supported play like Breitling it could be very mixed blessings. The question is where the money will come from and what kind of return horizon is anticipated. And the bigger one being what is the game plan for Richemont generally af...
Excellent point regarding PE...
...lets hope that whoever the investors are, they are in it for the long run and to bring JLC back to its glory days
Spot on. The funding drives the profile of the business.
Crossing my fingers for a return of the original Lambert days. Lots of hoops to be jumped through before this beco,es reality.
I am sorry to disagree - The Lambert Years have been lost years in my opinion!
How long has J. Lambert already been in charge of JLC? And has he been hindered to develop JLC over the years through internal requests/decisions of Richemont? I would have my doubts whether this was actually the case. A suitable comparison is IWC. In my ...
I am not criticising Jerome for not being creative with watches - but that is by far too little to be successful now and here!!
As mentioned: JLC has more than needed competency in watch making. It is the brand that is not emotionally strong enough to be really up to their substance. JLC is still the watchmakers brand. But that is not sufficient in terms of financial figures to be...
While I hear what you are saying…
I find the use of IWC as a counter example a bit baffling. While I didn’t look at financials - admittedly - at first glance IWC would be far down the list of shining examples 🤷🏻♂️
I did not intend to compare JLC with IWC, but …
… wanted to point out, that within Richemont G Kern has been able to develop and push IWC but J Lambert hasn’t been capable to do similar with JLC. The watches are great, so is the technology but unfortunately not the brand strength. The brand is flying u...
I get the general idea…
And JLC has not been fulfilling its potential. But has Kern really managed to push IWC in any meaningful way? 🤷🏻♂️ Speaking to some employees they said it was the worst period in the brand’s history and that he stripped it bare of any content 🤷🏻♂️ ...
It’s certainly a possibility 👍🏻
The main question remains where the money comes from and if there is a second life or squeezing all life out of it 😉🤞🏻
😂😂😂👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
That might actually be the amount the other shareholders are putting in 😂😉👍🏻
This could be a great step in the right direction for the brand
But the biggest problem to me is still the insanity of the pricing. JLC turned away from collectors looking for value for money and turned into yet another overpriced brand.
And here the financing of the brand will be a big determinant of what happens next…
If the leverage is large there’s no chance of more reasonable pricing going forward. Even if not, price adjustments downwards are always tricky to execute in a way not upsetting people who bought at the higher level and now have a significant loss to stom...
I totally agree
Leverage is an interesting way in M&A but… how many companies died because of a too large not to say fat leverages…
Well, something like that. 🤭
I mean, I see a 36mm limited run Master Control which I like but at a price hard to accept. But I’m smitten. Now, I’ve been to the JlC factory, I’ve seen how they turn tiny screws blue in the fire, and a lady painting works of art on the back of Reversos,...
I hear you 👍🏻
Given the valuation (which I cannot comment on in terms of value) being as low as stated a Swiss investor is at least feasible 🤷🏻♂️ But then Richemont is not a Swiss entity, either, nor was VDO back in the day 😉
A Trojan is an option for me
JLC have a special place. You are talking of mystique, the history… For several years now, it has no longer been the Grande Maison, but rather the house that dreams of being grand (like Patek)... For enthusiasts like us... it's disappointing... but for a ...
All true, what you say…
If the numbers are correct one has to say that the value destruction over the last 25 years has been immense - given that it was purchased for three times the amount 😱🤷🏻♂️
Not sure how I feel about it
I mean we all want JLC to return to the creativity and majesty (watchmaker's watchmaker) that we remember. My only concern is that who are these funding this, what is their agenda, how will they make money (sadly what all business about these days - rant ...
Well…
Expecting these types of businesses to run differently from the rest is not very practicable 🤷🏻♂️ Not saying Richemont was a poor owner per se but at some point the number of brands made it a challenge to position them so as to work in the market and at ...
So we all hope 🤞🏻
But not sure that’s a likely scenario. Still, wait and see I guess 👍🏻
It's a plus regardless, mentions/PR in press and confirms to Richemont people love the brand and desire more.
Which also means they realize their ____ ability and, perhaps, it's best to let someone else carry on about it. My wife does very much love the Reverso, and to quote her about the DuoFace, "A girl needs her options". But she's not gotten one just yet.
Does Richemont care?
I guess if the brand underperforms based on whatever internal KPI system they have and they have not been able to fix it, not sure if they have any emotional attachment 🤷🏻♂️
I don't think Rupert is looking to sell but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen 🤣
Arnault is where he is through his hostile takeover of LVMH. He went after Gucci and Hermes as well through quiet accumulation of stock. If richemont sheds some watchmaking dead weight leaving them vulnerable to a dowturn in jewelry if for example the pri...
This deal is about making money, not watches
backed finance, restructuring and trading the asset imo. no enthusiasm from my side
no, I am still on the hunt for some special pieces
just being realistic with this case
I would only trust Chanel
Seems they play a fair game with the brands they partly own Others are probably just trying to make some quick money
Wow, surprising and interesting news.
Although very difficult to know what it means at this point. A similar strategy to Breitling or something else entirely? I will be following closely. I had a lot of love for JLC under the stewardship of Lambert but that has since faded like it did for so ...
WOW!!!
That would be epochal in a truly positive way as far as I am concerned.... A bit of promising M&A news after learning last week that CF Moto is buying a majority stake in MV Agusta.... Who know how that old story pans out this time around. Thanks KM, ...
Sure thing, Filip 👍🏻🙏🏻
Was positively surprised how much sooner Miss Tweed picked it up when compared to the main watch news outlets 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
The same thing happened....
with the CF Moto - MVA acquisition, random Italian content creators shared the news first on YouTube long before any of the major media outlets got wind of it. As far as I know, no major outlet has yet published news related to that event....
Intriguing 🤷🏻♂️
Maybe there was some embargo but doesn’t seem to have been taken down…
interesting. Hope it augurs well for JLC
I wonder what it means for Richemonts watch portfolio if they let the "brains" of the whole group exit. Maybe the beginning of a larger divestment. Best Andreas
Exiting the category might prove a smart move…
If one takes a 5 or so year perspective. They mostly do not generate dream returns anymore in spite of dream prices 😉
I hold my speculation horses but….
The temptation is there, I’ll wait till sunday….and hope for a new era of La maison directed by Jerome Lambert, we know he is up to it
If he would be left free reign I am sure he could…
The question remains what freedom to act there will be depending on the financing structure 🤷🏻♂️
Very interesting times.....
...keeping my ear to the ground with anticipated excitement.
A bit of clickbait never harmed 😂
If there is no substance behind the use of this kind of clickbait could be a tad worrying, though - indicating that JLC does not find sufficient traction without 🤷🏻♂️😉
Remember that in 2001, JLC was sold for the highest price of any brand to date....
from Mannesmann in Germany to Vendome (Richemont). The price was 3.02 billion (!) Swiss Francs. Fortune magazine in November 2001 said, "To sweeten the deal, Mannesmann 'threw in' A Lange & Sohne and IWC." Vendome wanted JLC's movement making abilitie...
If the info was correct…
The current touted valuation of 1 billion would amount to a monumental value destruction over the past 25 years 😱 Let’s see if there is anything behind it 👍🏻
I think the valuation is pretty optimistic and the brand is a bit of a turnaround
The cost structure of the brand will be very different on a standalone basis. I’ll ping a few bankers to get info later. I wonder what it actually transacts for. My guess is a lot less.
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