The target of an aborted raid by LVMH in the early 2010s, Hermès still bears the battle scars of that operation. Wealth manager Éric Freymond, who played an instrumental role in the luxury giant's takeover bid, still holds shares in the leather goods brand and remains close to several of founder Émile Hermès's heirs. The three branches of the shareholding family are seeking to isolate him.
Already in the spotlight for unexpectedly rewriting his will, Hermès heir Nicolas Puech now finds himself embroiled in a heated inheritance dispute involving his former wealth manager, Éric Freymond, and a once-prominent Gstaad high society figure who died in 2021.
Wealth manager Éric Freymond, Nicolas Puech's loyal financial adviser, has left the board of the Hermès heir's foundation, where he had held a seat for 10 years.
The three shareholding families of leather goods manufacturer Hermès are eager to bring Nicolas Puech, the sole heir of Emile Hermès to have remained outside the group's family holding company, into the fold. The initiative is also a bid to close the only avenue allowing heirs to secretly sell their shares in the group.
After initiating legal proceedings against Bernard Arnault and LVMH in the hope of reaping 10% of the capital gains the luxury group made in its failed takeover of Hermès, Swiss wealth manager Eric Freymond mysteriously withdrew his complaint in the summer of 2019.
To force LVMH to reward him for his role in the Hermès raid, Swiss wealth manager Eric Freymond revealed the details of the luxury giant's attempted takeover in a court filing. The tell-all complaint was incendiary for Bernard Arnault's group, which had already been fined by the financial regulator for non-disclosure related to the operation.
It is the most secretive of the luxury sector's great battles: after LVMH's failed takeover of Hermès in 2010, its instigators fought long and hard over the ensuing capital gains. Glitz.paris investigates the €3.8bn dispute between LVMH chief Bernard Arnault and Swiss wealth manager Eric Freymond.
The central role played by Swiss wealth manager Eric Freymond in LVMH's planned takeover of Hermès in 2010 has led to him being the subject of a judicial investigation in France that has been kept under wraps, until now.
