LVMH has reportedly had talks with Ralph Lauren about a potential “acquisition” of the brand.
This week, Axios cited multiple sources in a report claiming that the luxury conglomerate has had “exploratory discussions” about a merger, which would indeed go down as one of the biggest such deals in history. These alleged discussions, the report added, are said to have taken place over the past two years.
Sources cited in the report further claim that Ralph Lauren himself, who presently serves in a CCO and chairperson capacity, is considering succession plan options. Following the Axios report, a number of industry watchers have stepped up to praise the potential pairing, with Forbesamong those having shared detailed speculations on the possible deal. Meanwhile, LVMH last year announced the completion of its acquisition of Tiffany & Co., making word of these reported acquisition discussions even more enticing.
Complex has reached out to reps for both LVMH and Ralph Lauren for comment and will update this post accordingly.
Addressing the completion of the Tiffany acquisition last January, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault predicted an acceleration of the brand’s growth and innovation. That same year, the brand received widespread media attention thanks to a multi-part campaign starring Beyoncé and Jay-Z, with many crediting the related success to Bernard’s son, Alexandre Arnault.
This year, LVMH’s investment division was revealed to have taken a minority stake in the Teddy Santis-founded Aimé Leon Dore. The latter was selected by Complex in 2021 as one of the best brands of the year.
