Richemont Chairman Locks Horns with Investor

Richemont chairman Johann Rupert has urged shareholders to vote against an investor’s proposal to appoint a former LVMH executive to the group’s board.

Bluebell Capital Partners has called for the selection of its cofounder Francesco Trapani as representative of Richemont’s class “A” shareholders on the board.

Category “A” shares have higher financial value but give holders fewer voting rights than “B” shares. Therefore, Rupert, who holds Richemont’s “B” shares, has 51% of voting rights despite owning 10% of the company’s capital, according to the Cartier owner’s latest annual report.

“LVMH is one of our company’s key competitors,” Rupert wrote Monday in a letter to shareholders. “The board may not responsibly recommend to shareholders to let a person who has a long history of association with that group — as well as a personal relationship with that group’s main shareholder — become a director of our company and intervene in our company’s decision-making process.”

The decision will take place at Richemont’s annual general meeting (AGM) on September 7.

Image: A Cartier store in Shanghai, China. (Shutterstock)