THE French luxury goods firm behind Louis Vuitton luggage and Veuve Clicquot champagne has emerged as a surprise bidder for Jimmy Choo, the shoemaker.
LVMH, which also counts Christian Dior among its high-end brands, is among a clutch of investors weighing a bid for the company, co-founded by the entrepreneur Tamara Mellon. Best-known as the favoured footwear of the characters in Sex and the City, Jimmy Choo is being sold by Towerbrook, the private equity firm. The auction kicks off later this month.
LVMH will be among the favourites. The Paris fashion group is owned by Bernard Arnault, France’s richest man, and is hungry for deals.
Last week, it announced the €3.7 billion (£3.2 billion) takeover of Bulgari, the Italian watchmaker, and has also amassed a 20% stake in Hermès, the rival luxury goods house.
Mellon and Jimmy Choo, the designer, started the shoe firm in 1996 with a £150,000 loan from her father, Tommy Yeardye, co-founder of the Vidal Sassoon hair products empire.
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Today, it has 110 shops round the world selling footwear for up to £1,800. Towerbrook bought the business in 2007 for £190m. Last year it hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to sell the firm, which could fetch £500m.