Why Bulgari Exited And Re-Entered India

The iconic Italian fashion brand is willing to play for the long haul to succeed in Asia’s third-largest luxury market.

- V. KESHAVDEV

IN AN IDEAL WORLD, the Bulgari family would be raising a toast this year to celebrate the 140th anniversary of their iconic Italian fashion brand. Instead, it’s embroiled in a legal wrangle between two fourth-generation sisters, Veronica and Ilaria, over control of two trusts worth $130 million.

The Bulgaris, though, no longer own the brand — whose logo uses the classical Latin alphabet “V” instead “U” — having sold a 50.4% controlling stake in March 2011 in a $5.2 billion all-share deal, fetching the family a 3.6% stake in LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the French luxury conglomerate built by Bernard Arnault. LVMH came into existence in 1987 following the merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy. In the ensuing three decades, it emerged as the numero uno luxury house with 75 maisons (brands) as Arnault went on an acquisition spree by swooping up European luxury brands Bulgari,Dior, Sephora among a host of other notable labels.

Incidentally, 2011 was not just the year Bulgari changed hands; it also saw the brand exit India, ending a seven-year partnership with a group company of the Mehta family-run Mohit Diamonds. The departure was not permanent, though. By 2014, Bulgari re-entered the market, opening its first boutique in New Delhi’s DLF Emporio a move made possible by India’s approval for singlebrand retail ventures.

Bulgari’s re-entry is led by Jean-Christophe Babin, who took over as Bulgari CEO in 2013 after a successful stint at Tag Heuer, a watch brand owned by LVMH. Putting into context the reason for the exit, Babin tells