LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault buying stakes in Lagardere

LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault will buy a stake in Arnaud Lagardere’s publishing and media group Lagardere Capital & Management (LCM).

The transaction between the two French billionaires is expected to see Arnault pick up about a quarter of LCM’s share capital, according to a Reuters report.

Lagardere’s portfolio includes numerous global travel retail stores, many of which are in Asia. In Hong Kong it is in a joint venture with China Duty-Free running key airport concessions for liquor & tobacco and it has a license to roll out the Thai-based Dean & Deluca cafes in airports in Europe and Asia.

According to a statement released by LVMH and Lagardere, the move is set to “strengthen the corporate structure and financial capacities of LCM”.

“The family groups led by Bernard Arnault and Arnaud Lagardere will act in concert with regard to Lagardere SCA”.

Lagardere has recently been resisting attempts by leading shareholder Amber Capital to extend its influence over the firm by replacing the firm’s supervisory board. The moves are partly in response to criticism of the firm for its overly broad range of business interests and flagging stock exchange performance.