Although an activist has lost its campaign at one of Europe’s top luxury companies, the fact it showed up at all and was taken seriously is new.
On Wednesday, shareholders at Switzerland-based Compagnie Financière Richemont which owns brands such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, voted against nominating Bluebell Capital Partner’s candidate to the board of directors. The London-based hedge fund wanted Francesco Trapani, the former chief executive of jewelry brand Bulgari, on the board to counterbalance Richemont’s powerful founder Johann Rupert.