Business News: Kering Sells Ulysse Nardin and Girard-Perregaux to Management
After several years of trying to grow its sub-scale watch division, Kering has sold both of its watch brands in a management buyout led by chief executive Patrick Pruniaux. A former Apple executive who started his watch career at TAG Heuer, Mr Pruniaux first took charge of Ulysse Nardin in 2017 before also taking the top job at Girard-Perregaux a year later. He proceeded to merge both brands into a single factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a move that was subsequently followed by layoffs the next year. The slimmed-down brands will have the flexibility to do more, while also facing the challenge of being relatively small players facing off against stronger brands. The French luxury group never managed to replicate the earlier success of its watch brands, both of which were run by iconoclastic entrepreneurs – Rolf Schnyder at Ulysse Nardin and Luigi “Gino” Macaluso at Girard-Perregaux. Both their deaths led to their heirs selling the respective companies to Kering, the Macaluso family in 2011 and the Schnyder family in 2014. Patrick Pruniaux With brands like Gucci and Saint Laurent in its stable, Kering had 2020 revenues of over €13 billion, leaving its two-brand watch division diminutive in comparison. The group never found the right formula for its watch division, resulting in the gradual erosion of sales. At the time of their respective acquisitions, Girard-Perregaux has annual sales of about CHF180 million and Ulysse Nardin about €190 million according to recent es...
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