De Beers - LVMH joint venture

January 15th, 2001 - The diamond group De Beers and French luxury conglomerate LVMH should announce this week their partnership in a joint venture, according to the Financial Times' week-end edition.
The deal is to see De Beers give up its retail brand name to the new joint-venture. The group will not however change its corporate name and will continue its business of mining and rough diamonds wholesale.
LVMH's aim is to open luxury shops around the world selling jewelry stamped with De Beers' famous name.
Through the deal De Beers will break free of its limitations in exploiting its brand name. Although it controls 60% of the diamond market the company has not succeeded to develop its name outside of the specialized field of rough diamond trade and has no other activity than precisely diamond trade.
Together, LVMH and De Beers will no doubt inject fresh energy into the jewelry market. Both should make equal investments in the venture, owned on a 50:50 basis.
Watch brands possessed by LVMH include Christian Dior, Fred, TAG Heuer, Ebel, Chaumet, Fendi, Zenith (jointly owned with Prada), Donna Karan.