In the original universe, Permira Investments sold its Valentino shares to an investment fund owned by the Qatari royal family for €700 million in 2012.
However, the Qatari royal family purchased a controlling stake, or a majority share, in Valentino.
This differs from the Gucci-Hermès Group's outright acquisition of all Valentino shares this time. In addition to Permira Investments, they also acquired the remaining shares from the Marzotto family.
This is because since Valentino's design director, Valentino, announced his retirement last year, attempts to bring in designers hoping to continue the Valentino style have been unsuccessful, resulting in a significant decline in Valentino's revenue between last year and the first half of this year.
Otherwise, if Valentino were still profitable, even if Permira Investments and the Marzotto family were willing to sell, they would have demanded a higher price.
However, Baron knew that Valentino's recently hired creative directors, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, were expected to perform very well in the future.
Starting next year, Valentino's revenue would begin to grow. While the subprime mortgage crisis had a significant impact on the luxury goods industry in Europe and the United States, further growth in Asia and the Middle East was evident.
Statistics show a 60% increase from 2009 to 2012!
This was also the reason why the Qatari royal family's investment fund later sought to acquire a majority stake in Valentino.
However, transactions worth hundreds of millions of euros didn't really occupy Baron's attention. He only casually mentioned it to Beatrice when she asked.
"Yes, the yacht I ordered will be finished soon, Mr. Lagardère. It should be less than a month away. Unfortunately, the weather will be cooler by then..."
Arnaud Lagardère, with whom Baron had previously "enjoyed a good chat," hosted a ball for him at his mansion, and Baron and Beatrice were there.
He was now discussing with Arno Lagardère the superyacht he had ordered in Germany—a 500-foot superyacht named Devonshire Poseidon, which he had ordered from the A&R shipyard before Barron's marriage.
The initial estimate for construction was approximately two and a half years...
but now, three years later, Barron has finally received word from A&R that Devonshire Poseidon will be ready for delivery in less than a month.
The delay of over six months stemmed from Barron making some upgrades to Devonshire Poseidon's interior and also from A&R's need to expand its dock, which halted construction for over three months. Fortunately,
Barron had already purchased another superyacht, the Caesar, from the same shipyard. While Caesar was smaller than Devonshire Poseidon, it was still large enough for Barron's needs.
Besides, he doesn't use his yacht very often, after all, he's been pretty busy these days.
The last time he met Arnault in Paris, he invited Baron to a "swimsuit party" he organized—after all, the Lagardère Group is France's largest media conglomerate, and its TV stations and fashion magazines are essentially equivalent to a pool of models and beautiful women...
But now that Arnault Lagardère is married again, his wife is a former model, so this time around, he's not being so extravagant—at least the ball held in his mansion was quite "serious." Well, Baron had brought Beatrice Borromeo with him this time. Not far away, she was chatting with Arnault's wife, Jade.
As expected of a former model, Jade, dressed in a satin dress, had striking curves, though she looked a bit more mature and less attractive than Beatrice.
After their meeting, Baron didn't immediately discuss the Lagardère Group's sale of Hachette with Arnault. Instead, he discussed other matters—after all, the matter was already under negotiation. Even if Arnault was a bit of a spendthrift, with a competitor like Hearst, even the most profligate wouldn't be so foolish as to ignore the principle of the highest bidder winning.
Of course, SEM still had an advantage over Hearst in terms of its offer.
However, Lagardère had previously preferred to sell Hachette's overseas operations while retaining the French operations of the magazines, which was why Hearst had made its bid.
Baron will also try to convince Arnault to make up his mind to sell Hachette Group completely.
At this point, the topic of the subprime mortgage crisis is inevitable.
"The government? I have to say they've been incredibly slow to act, sometimes even clueless about what to do. They're even handing money to those greedy bankers. It's like using our tax dollars to appease the abominable capitalists..."
Interestingly, Arnault, to a certain extent, has a certain air of "angry young man," despite being a member of "big capital" and not young anymore.
He criticizes the French bailout of BNP Paribas, the French government's decision to inject €5.1 billion into the bank, acquiring non-voting shares in France's largest listed bank.
"After all, BNP Paribas is the largest bank in France, but I also think it's better to let the market resolve this issue at this time."
Clearly, Arnault agrees with Baron. Why does Baron say this?
Because he truly thought so, it would give him a chance to acquire a stake in BNP Paribas. As far as he knew, the Rothschilds held a significant stake in BNP Paribas. While not a large one, it still wielded a degree of influence over the bank...
If they could acquire a stake in BNP Paribas—of course, with voting rights—Barron believed they could mitigate the Rothschilds' influence.
Furthermore, the investment would yield a good return.
However, there was no way around it. As France's largest listed bank, the French government would undoubtedly prioritize a bailout for BNP Paribas at this time.
Of course, with their extensive exposure to US subprime mortgage assets, coupled with the global stock market downturn, and the corresponding losses on some of their investments, many French banks were not doing so well...