Baccarat placed under control of pool of international investment funds

Luxury crystalware producer Baccarat is now controlled by a pool of international investment funds, which don’t rule out a subsequent sale or a restructuring of the French group.

According to a notice published on Monday by France’s financial markets authority (AMF), investment funds Tor Investment Management, Sammasan Capital, Dolphin Capital, CEOF Holdings and Corbin Opportunity now collectively own a 97.1% stake in Baccarat.

The acquisition follows the signing of a loan agreement between the investment funds and Baccarat’s majority shareholder, Fortune Legend Limited (FLL), a subsidiary of Chinese group Fortune Fountain Capital (FFC). As part of the agreement, FLL’s shares have been pledged as collateral.

The investors have indicated to AMF that they intend to file a takeover bid for Baccarat, which in September 2020 was placed under temporary administration after FFC went into liquidation. Following their bid, they said they also envisage delisting Baccarat.

According to the AMF notice, Baccarat's new owners intend to “bolster and strengthen” the group’s “leadership position” on the market.

“Their ambition is to support the management of Baccarat in implementing coherently and effectively the company’s main strategic guidelines, in order to help [the group] achieve its development and growth objectives,” stated AMF.

Consequently, they are expected to devise policies “designed to contribute to pursuing Baccarat’s development and growth plans,” including the “sale or restructuring of the group.” No one was presently available to comment at Baccarat.