UPDATE 1-LVMH to buy Swiss watchmaker Hublot
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PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) - The world's biggest luxury goods group LVMH (LVMH.PA) has agreed to buy Hublot, an upmarket Swiss watchmaker with 2007 sales of more than 150 million Swiss francs ($148.8 million).
LVMH said on Thursday the Hublot brand would fit in well with the French company's existing portfolio of upmarket watches such as TAG Heuer, Dior Montres and Louis Vuitton watches.
"Hublot will strengthen our watches and jewellery business group which, over the last three years, has been growing strongly," Philippe Pascal, head of LVMH's watches and jewelry division, said in a statement.
Hublot was founded by Carlo Crocco in 1980. The Geneva-headquartered company has a selective distribution network limited to 300 stores worldwide and LVMH said Hublot was expected to have "very significant increase in revenue" in 2008.
The Hublot brand has also recently been launched in the booming economies of China and India and LVMH said it had room for strong growth in Asian, Japan, north America and Europe.
LVMH, which posted an 8 percent rise in 2007 net profit, said earlier this month it expected further growth this year despite fears of a global economic slowdown caused by the global credit crisis.
LVMH shares were down 0.4 percent in early morning trade. The stock has fallen 15 percent since the start of 2008, compared with a 13 percent fall in France's benchmark CAC-40 index .FCHI.
Investment bank Michel Dyens & Co advised LVMH on the Hublot acquisition. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by David Holmes)
