Jaeger-LeCoultre

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...  

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... 

...lets hope that whoever the investors are, they are in it for the long run and to bring JLC back to its glory days

guidance on where they want this to go..,

Crossing my fingers for a return of the original Lambert days. Lots of hoops to be jumped through before this beco,es reality.

Let’s hope the construct allows for this 🤞🏻

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 ... 

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... 

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 🤷🏻‍♂️

… 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... 

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 🤷🏻‍♂️ ... 

I have more faith in Jerome than in the Richemont Group

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 😂😉👍🏻

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.

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... 

Leverage is an interesting way in M&A but… how many companies died because of a too large not to say fat leverages…

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,...  

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 😉

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 ... 

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 😱🤷🏻‍♂️

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 ... 

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 ... 

But not sure that’s a likely scenario. Still, wait and see I guess 👍🏻

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.

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 🤷🏻‍♂️

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... 

Let’s see where it all ends 🤞🏻

backed finance, restructuring and trading the asset imo. no enthusiasm from my side

just being realistic with this case

Whether we like it or not …

Seems they play a fair game with the brands they partly own Others are probably just trying to make some quick money

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 ... 

How I would love to see JLC blossom again.

That’s why I used the more modest “blossom” - MJBA 🤷‍♂️😂😂😂

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, ... 

Was positively surprised how much sooner Miss Tweed picked it up when compared to the main watch news outlets 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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....

Maybe there was some embargo but doesn’t seem to have been taken down…

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

If one takes a 5 or so year perspective. They mostly do not generate dream returns anymore in spite of dream prices 😉

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

The question remains what freedom to act there will be depending on the financing structure 🤷🏻‍♂️

...keeping my ear to the ground with anticipated excitement.

He would not be able to bring up the whole billion on his own 😉🤷🏻‍♂️

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 🤷🏻‍♂️😉

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... 

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 👍🏻

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.