BDO Belgium has conducted a valuation analysis of the goodwill of Luvanis at the request of its shareholders. Luvanis is the world leader in the revival of dormant heritage brands, also known as “sleeping beauties”.
Founded in 2009 by Guy de Lummen and his son Arnaud de Lummen, Luvanis is a Luxembourg-based private investment company that specialises in the acquisition, incubation and revival of dormant heritage brands. The company has successfully relaunched around ten luxury brands since its inception. Today, Luvanis' portfolio consists of a large number of sleeping labels in fashion, leather goods, jewellery, fragrance and Champagne.
The company is particularly famous for the revival of Moynat, one of the oldest French trunk makers, which was acquired and repositioned by Luvanis before being sold to Groupe Arnault (today, Moynat is part of LVMH’s brand portfolio). Luvanis also revived the namesake brand of Paul Poiret, who was a 20th-century French fashion designer and perfumer (then sometimes called the “King of Fashion”). Poiret was sold to the South Korean group Shinsegae, who relaunched the brand in fashion and then in cosmetics. More recently, Luvanis reintroduced Vever, a leading French jewellery brand founded in 1821 and “dormant” since 1982. The brand was acquired and revived in 2021 by Camille and Damien Vever, the 7th generation of the Vever family, along with private investors.
Given the unusual nature of the company’s business model, BDO Corporate Finance had to rely on alternative valuation methods, some inspired by analogous industries (i.e., art trading), or by option pricing theory (with dormant brands as underlying assets), in addition to the usual market, income and cost approaches.
Testimonial of Arnaud de Lummen, Founder and Managing Director of Luvanis: “The team of BDO Corporate Finance was particularly responsive, relevant and sharp in its approach, with good knowledge of the luxury sector and a keen understanding of the valuation of intangible and cultural assets.”