Bernard Arnault to buy Dior for $13b

Billionaire Bernard Arnault and his family offered to buy the 26 percent of Christian Dior SE it doesn’t already own for about 12.1 billion euros ($13.2 billion), and to fold Christian Dior’s couture operation into their LVMH luxury goods empire in a 6.5-billion-euro deal.

The family will offer a mix of cash and Hermes International stock that value Paris-based Dior at 260 euros a share, according to a statement Tuesday. The bid is 15 percent above where the stock closed Monday.

Adding Christian Dior Couture will strengthen LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division, while the deals also will simplify a complicated ownership structure as requested by investors, Arnault said in a statement. His family owns about 47 percent of LVMH, whose full name is LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.

The deals “illustrate the commitment of my family group and emphasize its confidence in the long-term perspectives of LVMH and its brands,” Arnault said in the statement.

Dior investors also can choose all cash or all Hermes stock in the deal, according to the statement. The Arnaults received shares in Paris-based luxury rival Hermes in 2014 after a controversial effort by LVMH to build a stake in the company.