The heir to the famous French house Hermès, Nicolas Puech, has sued the LVMH conglomerate and its billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault. The purpose of the lawsuit is to recover shares of the Birkin handbag manufacturer worth about 14 billion euros, which, he claims, were sold without his knowledge. This is reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.
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Puech, a fifth-generation heir, claims that his former asset manager, the now deceased Eric Freymond, sold his approximately six million Hermès shares to Arnault during the latter's attempt to acquire a competitor. A civil lawsuit against Freymond, LVMH, and Arnault was filed in May.
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This legal development adds a new twist to a saga that has been going on for 15 years, ever since Arnault secretly acquired a stake in Hermès. Although the descendants who control Hermès successfully fended off the unwanted takeover at the time, the fate of Puech's shares was never clarified.
Puech also initiated a parallel criminal case, asking the police to determine who is responsible for the loss of his assets, and demands to suspend civil proceedings during the criminal investigation. The French newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné reported that judges are expected to question Arnault as part of this criminal case.