Article: City: NON! Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH, is threatening to wreck the Guinness merger with Grand Met. Richard Newton assesses the strength of his case and suggests the ultimate objective.

AN evil fairy has turned up at the wedding of Guinness and Grand Met. Bernard Arnault, France's wiliest businessman, threatens to tear the whole pounds 19bn union apart because he was not invited.

When the merger was announced three weeks ago, Guinness made it plain that Arnault, chairman of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, the luxury goods and drinks group and a 15 per cent shareholder in Guinness, was opposed to the deal. He saw little point in creating a vast business whose operations ranged from Burger King to Bell's whisky.

"The only synergy in this group is in wine and spirits. This is a conglomerate, and at this time conglomerates are usually less efficient for shareholder value than ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!