Activist Third Point Takes Stake in Richemont, Miss Tweed Says

(Bloomberg) -- Activist investor Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC has built a stake in Swiss luxury-goods company Richemont and is pushing for changes to boost the stock price, the website Miss Tweed reported.

Third Point is now engaging with Richemont, according to the report. Another hedge fund has taken a smaller position in the company and also is pressuring Richemont Chairman Johann Rupert, Miss Tweed reported, without saying where it got the information. Richemont declined to comment about the article, according to a spokeswoman contacted by Bloomberg News. Third Point didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Miss Tweed reported in October that Richemont was considering several options for its e-commerce unit Yoox Net-a-Porter, and in March the website said that Richemont had turned down an informal takeover offer from Gucci owner Kering. 

Richemont, the owner of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, has a market value of 69 billion Swiss francs ($75.6 billion). The stock has returned about 15% annually over the past five years, less than half the return of its bigger French rivals, LVMH and Kering.

Loeb last month unveiled a stake in Royal Dutch Shell Plc and said he’s pushing for a breakup of the energy giant.

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