Jimmy Choo draws preliminary interest from Fosun – source
08 MAY 2017
The potential sale of London-based Jimmy Choo [LON:CHOO], the luxury shoemaker, has attracted preliminary interest from Chinese buyers including Fosun Group, a source familiar with the matter said.
Fosun is in contact with Citigroup, Jimmy Choo’s advisor, regarding the potential sale, and its internal team is examining a potential bid, the source said.
The deal size could be around GBP 800m which is about Jimmy Choo’s current market cap at GBP 790m, the source added. The figure does not take into account Jimmy Choo’s net debt which stands at GBP 139m as of December 2016.
Other interested Chinese bidders could include private equity firm Hillhouse which is in the process of buying out Belle International [HKG:1880], Chinese’s largest shoe retailer along with CDH Investments, the source and another source briefed on the matter noted.
The board of Jimmy Choo announced on 24 April to start a strategic review of the company, including a possible sale. Its majority shareholder JAB Luxury, with a 67.66% stake, has confirmed to be supportive of the process.
The announcement is also notable for revealing that the UK’s Takeover Panel has granted a dispensation from certain Code requirements such that any interested party participating in the formal sale process will not be required to be publicly identified as a result of this announcement and will not be subject to the 28 day Code deadline.
There have been no takeovers of UK listed companies by Chinese acquirers since 2012 because the two countries M&A regimes oppose each other, as previously reported by Dealreporter’s Asia Flash.
In 2011, for example, the Takeover Panel prevented China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corporation (CGNPC) from reducing its offer for Kalahari Minerals following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, although the deal was eventually done at a later date. In 2012, Chengdu Geeya Technology [SHE:300028] successfully completed its acquisition of Harvard International but only after securing eight deadline extensions from the Takeover Panel to its 28 day deadline, allowing the buyer to secure regulatory approvals.
However, the Code dispensation and JAB’s position as controlling shareholder may facilitate a Chinese bid in this instance, this news service noted.
The potential sale has drawn strong Asian buyers interests because China and Japan were the fastest growing regions for Jimmy Choo due to strong brand awareness and weak sterling, the first source said.
However, there is also concern about the rising rental cost in first and second tier Chinese cities as well as the shifting taste of the younger consumers who favor boutique designer brands over traditional luxury brands, the source added.
Shanghai-based conglomerate Fosun has strong presence in global retail and fashion industry, the source pointed out. It is the second largest shareholders in Greek fashion brand Folli Follie which retails women’s handbags and accessories with strong presence in China and Hong Kong. It also invested in American high-end women's clothing brand St. John, Italian high-end custom men's clothing Caruso, and fashion lifestyle brand Tom Tailor, according to its public filings.
Apart from Chinese interested buyers, Coach [NYSE:COH] was reportedly mulling a possible acquisition of Jimmy Choo. Today, 8 May, Coach announced it would buy Kate Spade [NYSE:KATE] in a deal valued at USD 2.4bn.
JAB has retained BofA Merrill Lynch and Citigroup as financial advisors regarding the strategic review and it expects to complete the review in the second half of this year, according to the announcement..
Best known for its tottering heels for women, Jimmy Choo was founded in 1996 by former Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon and Malaysian designer Jimmy Choo. It retails menswear, shoes and accessories and runs licensing business including fragrance and eyewear, according to its website.
Fosun declined to comment. Hillhouse and JAB did not respond to a request for comment.
Many have been rightfully skeptical of the #MacronLeaks' origins, authenticity and intelligence value. Personal investigation into the files, however, have brought me across some legitimate, historically-accurate events which seem to bolster the veracity of the #MacronLeaks documents. Perhaps the most interesting of these stories so far is the tale of SIM and smart card vendor Gemplus.
Gemplus was founded in Luxembourg in 1988 until it was purchased by United States-based Texas Pacific Group in 2000. At the time Gemplus was the #1 provider of SIM cards in the world. TPG would hold Gemplus until 2006 when it would merge with Axalto and form Gemalto.(1) Gemalto is currently headquartered in the Netherlands and is still the world's largest manufacturer of SIM cards and also manufactures smart cards.(2)
The Macron Leaks are made up of ten sections, with one of those sections being titled "gemplus". The gemplus folder contains over 570 internal Gemplus from 2002 to 2004, many of which are in English. During this period Gemplus was acquired by Texas Pacific Group who was strongly trying to replace executives and the Board of Directors. In particular TPG wanted to appoint Alex J. Mandl as CEO of Gemplus, who as it turns out hid his associations with In-Q-Tel and the CIA from the Board of Directors during his appointment process.
What were the implications of this? This post, the first of my attempts to digest the massive amount of information in the Macron Leaks, will explore this question.
It turns out there may be more than the mainstream media (especially France's) wants you to know.
Note: Files are the originals torrented from files provided on 4chan. All have been scanned for malware, personally archived and were verified by admins of the /r/WikiLeaks subreddit.
Top image is of former Gemplus CEO Alex J. Mandl
The takeover of Gemplus
On December 21, 2001 a confidential memo was distributed among board members of Gemplus which described the firing of their current CEO, Mr. Quandt. At the time Gemplus' Board of Directors was supportive of Mandl until it was discovered that he was a member of the Board of Directors for In-Q-Tel, an infamous front company for the CIA. Not only had Mandl deliberately withheld this information during interviews prior to his appointment but he was also "not forthcoming with key information" when questioned further about these facts. Regardless Mandl would be appointed CEO of Gemplus on August 29, 2002.
The following public statement was drafted August 30, 2002 by Gemplus Director Ziad Takieddine (Ziad happens to be a known arms dealer and was denied entrance to the U.K.):
Takieddine and a number of other Directors were distressed by the U.S. takeover and noted in several documents that appointed executives from TPG often did not even speak French and were highly secretive. A number of attempts were made to prevent the appointment and remove Mandl, but none were successful. In fact Takieddine and several of his allies would resign,(3) leaving Mandl as CEO of Gemplus all the way until their merger in 2006.
The Saudi connection
Also included in the Gemplus files are documents in a folder called "Arabie Saoudite". The files in this folder were published between 2002 and 2004 while Alex Mandl was CEO of Gemplus. These documents outline a deep connection between the United States, France and Saudi Arabia in a deep and intricate payment scheme for Saudi Arabian border security.
One such document, titled "confidentiel", describes that French defense and aviation contractor THALES must enter an agreement with United States/United Nations organization CIVIPOL under the authorization of the French government. Prince Nayef of Saudi Arabia was then supposed to determine who would then sign the CIVIPOL contract:
Déterminer le signataire du Contrat avec le Prince Nayef. Si le Ministre signe ce Contrat, les encaissements se feraient à travers CIVI/POL, qui redistribuera. Ceci peut être de nature à faciliter le financement, garanties de l’Etat et autres.
Translated
Determine the signatory of the Contract with Prince Nayef. If the Minister signs this Contract, the receipts will be made through CIVI / POL, which will redistribute. This may be of a nature to facilitate the financing, guarantees of the State and others.
You may wonder how THALES is connected to Gemplus, but according to the THALES website they are corporate partners with Gemalto. Numerous other instances can be found of projects and collectives run by both THALES and Gemplus/Gemalto over the years.
Not only this, but other Saudi princes were also found who were "advisors" to this project including Prince (now King) Abdullah and Prince Khalid bin Sultan. For those unfamiliar with the Saudi Royal Family, Prince Nayef was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as well as minister of the interior during this time.(4) Abdullah was the previous Crown Prince before he ascended to the title of King of Saudi Arabia in 2005.(5) Prince Khalid bin Sultan was the deputy minister of defense for Saudi Arabia.(6)
In addition it would seem that billions of Euros were being allotted to Saudi Arabia in chunks distributed over 44 trimesters:
Tying loose ends...
At first I'll admit I had no idea how this information related to Macron. As a Rothschild banker Macron seemingly would have been in opposition of the CIA takeover of Gemplus in 2002 as Rothschild opposition to Mandl is stated in the gemplus documents. Upon deeper study, however, I discovered that later on Gemalto partnered with Worldine, a subsidiary of Atos. Macron worked for Atos in 2010 as a consultant on behalf of the Rothschilds.
While this seems to answer quite a bit, many further questions remain from these findings:
- Why did the Rothschilds seemingly do a 180 on their ideas about Gemplus/Gemalto?
- Why was the Saudi government getting so much defense money to begin with after 9/11?
- Who in the United States government facilitated the CIVIPOL authorizations of payments to Saudi Arabia?
- Were illicit arms deals happening through Gemplus and/or THALES?
- Did CIA operations continue after Gemplus became Gemalto?
- How else do these connections relate to Macron?
I'll be continuing to research the massive amount of material present in the #MacronLeaks, but I figured this to be a good, fact-based introduction. Hopefully this will dispel notions that the entire set of documents could have been faked, but there are undoubtedly countless questions still left to be answered.
For all intents and purposes remain especially skeptical of the mainstream media, particular from France, on the validity and value of the #MacronLeaks. There is certainly something to be found here for the undeterred and vigilant.
How Serge Gainsbourg’s Je t’aime whipped up a scandal
Banned by the BBC and condemned by the Vatican, the song sold millions of copies — and spawned many suggestive spoofs
By the time Brigitte Bardot began dating Serge Gainsbourg, the 34-year-old movie siren had grown cynical of conventional romance. Her third husband, millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs, had showered her home with hundreds of roses from his helicopter before they married in 1966. But by 1967 he was cheating. Gainsbourg, the 39-year-old composer who joked he had a “head like a cabbage”, developed an obsession with “BB”. He signed her to the record label on which he pumped out perky pop hits and took her out after the pair had appeared on a TV show together.
Alas a combination of awe and booze caused Gainsbourg’s celebrated wit and charm to desert him and he staggered home believing he’d blown it. But the next day Bardot called offering him a second chance, on condition that he write her “the most beautiful love song he could imagine”. Ever excessive, he wrote two: “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Je t’aime . . . moi non plus”.
Although “Je t’aime”’s sweet, swirling organ melody (which echoed that summer’s big hit, Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale”) met Bardot’s demand for beauty, the lyrics must have given her pause. The drunken provocateur who’d just fluffed their date was asking her to sigh that she loved him while he would reply, deadpan: “Me neither”. Gainsbourg’s love of rhyme also led him to locate the act of love “between your kidneys”: “Je vais et je viens/ Entre tes reins.”
But Gainsbourg’s musings on the hopelessness of love struck a chord with the restless and troubled Bardot. They became lovers and met in Paris that winter to squeeze into an increasingly steamy booth and record “Je t’aime”.
The French press got wind of the recording and whipped up a scandal, suggesting the couple had had sex while making it. Bardot fretted that the bad publicity would damage her career and persuaded Gainsbourg to shelve the recording. He was frustrated. “The music is very pure,” he said. “For the first time in my life I write a love song, and what happens? They take it the wrong way.”
He approached other women, including Marianne Faithfull, to take Bardot’s part but in 1968 convinced his new girlfriend, English actress Jane Birkin, to do the heavy breathing. Gainsbourg laughed off further rumours of audio vérité: “Thank goodness it wasn’t, otherwise I hope it would have been a long-playing record.”
Despite being banned by the BBC and condemned by the Vatican, the song shifted millions around the world and shot to number one in the UK where its lyrical subtleties were lost in translation; it became a straightforward disco snogging song. That Christmas, Birkin played the rest of the couple’s debut album to her family, but decided to spare them her orgasmic groans. Meanwhile Birkin’s brother, Andrew, later said that the former Nazi armaments minister Albert Speer had asked him for a signed copy of the record, an irony which delighted the Jewish Gainsbourg.
A slew of suggestive spoofs followed from comics including Frankie Howerd, June Whitfield and a version packed with “Gud moaning” from the cast of the British sitcom ’Allo ’Allo, set in Nazi-occupied Paris.
The song’s breathy sensuality helped inspire Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder’s pulsating disco sound and they covered it together, with added sax appeal, in 1978. Artist Sam Taylor-Wood swapped the word “kidneys” for “thighs” in an English-language version with the Pet Shop Boys (1998) that cleverly evoked the digital despair of internet porn. Cat Power and Karen Elson swung it smartly Sapphic in 2008 while Madonna gave it a melodramatic S&M twist on her 2012 MDMA tour. Birkin references it on Birkin/Gainsbourg: le Symphonique, a Serge Gainsbourg cover album, which she released this March.
Bardot finally released the original in 1986 to raise funds for her animal charities. “I gave my beauty and youth to men,” she said. “Now I am giving my wisdom and experience — the best of me — to animals.” At the end of her affair with Gainsbourg, while he filled her suitcase with love letters, Bardot pierced the skin of her right index finger and wrote “I love you” in blood. He did the same and wrote “Me neither”.