The conflict took over everything
, explained the son, Michel Lacoste in 2012, to JDD. We are no longer able to live together, to organize the governance of this group in a rational framework. Today the family is split in two and no one is able to guide the company.
In 1963, René Lacoste gave the reins to Bernard, one of his sons. In 2005, he resigned for health reasons. His younger brother Michel succeeds him. Then distortions within the family began to arise to pass the torch to the third generation. According to Le Figaro, before Bernard’s death, it was agreed that Philippe (son of Michel) would become CEO »
. But relations between father and son became strained, to the point that Philippe had to leave the family business.
Fierce battle
It is from this moment that the empire Lacoste started to crack. Then Philippe Lacoste, his sister Sophie and cousins prepared their revenge vis-à-vis their father. In 2012, then began six months of a fierce battle between the family shareholders.
Michel Lacoste, and his clan, sold their shares to the Geneva holding company Maus Frères (Devanlay, Aigle, Gant), already a shareholder of Lacoste (35%). For 480 million euros, Maus Frère bought the 30% of the group of shareholders. The valuation of the company climbed to 1.2 billion euros. After trying, in vain, to buy back the shares sold by her father’s clan, Sophie Lacoste-Dournel did not wish to stay minority shareholder »
. A few weeks later, the founder’s granddaughter and her allies accepted the check for more than 400 million euros from the Maus Frères group. Lacoste has not belonged to Lacoste for eight years.
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