Re: [Leica] FT on Leica/Hermes Deal

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

At least it doesn't say "which it hopes will rid it of unfriendly - i.e.,
non-fawning and worshipful - LUG members." :-)

B. D.

Chuck Albertson wrote:

> Note the last line in the article.
>
> Chuck Albertson
> Seattle, Wash.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
> COMPANIES & MARKETS: Herme`s focuses on Leica with a Pounds 10m bid
> Financial Times; Nov 21, 2000
>
> Fashion house Herme`s International is seeking to move to the other side of
> the lens with a Euros 17m (Pounds 10m) bid for a little less than a third of
> Leica, Germany's 150-year-old camera manufacturer.
>
> The move is a departure from Herme`s' leather goods and scarf image and is
> the first time a fashion group has sought to buy a camera maker. "This offer
> expresses the willingness for an alliance between two companies which have
> been inspired for more than 150 years by the same values of excellence,"
> said Mireille Maury, deputy managing director of Herme`s.
>
> She declined to say whether Leica's famous M6 camera or up-market binoculars
> would shortly be appearing on the shelves of Herme`s stores, saying
> discussions would start if the deal went through. The French company is
> offering Euros 12.50 a share, a premium of 20.2 per cent to Friday's closing
> price, for up to 30 per cent of Leica.
>
> Herme`s was among the first of the fashion houses to move into watchmaking,
> a trend that became firmly established when luxury goods giant LVMH
> unsuccessfully bid for the watch business of Mannesmann sold by Vodafone
> earlier this year. But analysts said they did not expect a rush of companies
> into the photography business. Leica, in particular, was seen as an unusual
> move as it caters to the professional photographer rather than "ladies who
> lunch".
>
> "I would expect most of the companies in the industry to be more focused
> than that," said Claire Kent at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. She doubted the
> cameras would make an appearance in New York or Paris designer outlets, but
> said it was possible that binoculars, as "lifestyle products", could appear,
> possibly with Herme`s-branded leather cases.
>
> Jean-Louis Dumas, Herme`s chairman, met Hanns-Peter Cohn, Leica chairman,
> when he accompanied a group of artists to the Leica headquarters in Solms
> last August. Leica, whose shares were suspended after the offer was
> announced, has been losing money. Yesterday it announced increased losses
> for the six months to the end of September of DM6.7m on sales up 15.7 per
> cent at DM141.5m (Pounds 43.6m). It blamed the increase on the weakness of
> the euro and one-off costs associated with a trade fair.
>
> Leica is supporting the bid, which it hopes will rid it of unfriendly
> shareholders.