By
AFP

Published
September 24, 2026

Four years after a reorganisation, the Arnault family group plans to simplify the structure that sits above global luxury giant LVMH to “ensure the long-term continuity of its control,” via a series of transactions culminating in the creation of a single entity.

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In a proposal presented to the board of Christian Dior, LVMH’s main shareholder, the Arnault family intends to merge its holding companies to “ensure the long-term stability of its control” over the group, Christian Dior said in a statement on Wednesday.

The new reorganisation is expected to lead to the creation of a single company that will control LVMH. It will be carried out through a series of absorptions and conversions, under which the intermediate holding company Christian Dior will be converted into a partnership limited by shares.

At present, Agache owns 100 per cent of Financière Agache, which itself holds 96 per cent of the share capital and 97.10 per cent of the voting rights in the intermediate holding company Christian Dior — whose chief executive since 2022 has been Bernard Arnault’s eldest son, Antoine — as well as 6.77 per cent of the share capital and 8.49 per cent of the voting rights in LVMH.

Following “the absorption of Financière Agache by Agache, it is envisaged that Agache will be absorbed by Christian Dior, which would simultaneously be converted into a partnership limited by shares and renamed Agache,” the statement said.

The future company will hold a direct stake in LVMH of 49.76 per cent of the share capital and 65.55 per cent of the voting rights. The transaction would thereby consolidate the Arnault family group’s holdings in LVMH at 50.33 per cent of the share capital and 66.27 per cent of the voting rights.

A partnership limited by shares is known for features that facilitate succession within family businesses. It also separates management from ownership and serves as a deterrent to hostile takeover bids.

Succession 

This legal structure is used by a number of companies, such as the tyre manufacturer Michelin and the luxury goods group Hermès.

“The partnership limited by shares structure, adopted by the Arnault family in 2022 with the conversion of Agache into a partnership limited by shares, would thus be maintained, in line with the Arnault family group’s aim of ensuring the long-term continuity of its control over LVMH,” the statement said.

Agache Commandité and Bernard Arnault, LVMH’s chief executive, would remain general partners of the new entity, with Bernard Arnault acting as managing partner, the statement added.

After presenting the plan at an extraordinary general meeting of Christian Dior in December, the Arnault family group will be required to launch a public buy-out offer, to be settled entirely in cash, for all Christian Dior shares it does not already hold, representing 2.44 per cent of the share capital. This will not be followed by a mandatory delisting from the Paris Stock Exchange, where Christian Dior is listed.

This simplification comes amid speculation over Bernard Arnault’s succession. At the group’s annual general meeting in April, the 77-year-old billionaire deferred questions on the subject.

“We’ll talk about all that again in seven or eight years’ time,” he told shareholders then. In 2025, LVMH had shareholders approve an amendment to its articles of association, raising the chief executive’s age limit to 85.

All five of the businessman’s children work at the world’s leading luxury goods group. Four sit on LVMH’s board of directors, and two — Antoine Arnault and Delphine Arnault — serve on the executive committee.

Amid a global slowdown in the luxury sector, LVMH was recently overtaken by cosmetics giant L’Oréal as France’s largest company by market capitalisation.

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