Louis Vuitton owner face in fine luxury rowLouis Vuitton owner face fine in the luxury line

  A battle between French luxury handbag manufacturers distributed in the public eye on Friday with regulators investigating the maximum fine for Louis Vuitton owner LVMH (LVMH.PA) for non-implementation of the initiatives reveal a game rival Hermes (HRMS.PA) to build.

The series revolves around human beings, for the first time in late 2010 most of the owner LVMH and France's Bernard Arnault man who introduced the company with the participation of nearly one-fifth of its great rival on the left, the producer of the famous Kelly and Birkin handbags.

Arnault of LVMH built regularly acquisition of other brands of the last decade, says he is happy to remain a long-term shareholder, while some industry observers may hope to say play a long game, one day, to convince sell the owner of the Hermes family.

Hermes owners have fought tooth and nail against Arnault, but had acquired an initial 14 per cent since the discovery of LVMH.

Regulator AMF said on Friday that relations LVMH were unclear about their participation in the Hermes and presented a serious offense that will be pulled even considered "cheating."

LVMH, which now owns 22.6 percent of Hermes, the stock market surprised in October 2010, when he announced that he bought a 14 percent partly through derivatives, which had allowed him not report their participation.

The AMF said LVMH in its financial statements should disclose the size of its exposure to equities by the Hermes shares in 2008 and purchased from the fact that he had acquired a stake in Hermes nearly 5 percent in 2001 and 2002.

In France, companies are required to disclose when they take if the destination listed on the stock exchange a share of more than 5, 10 and 15 percent of the capital of another company.

Hermes is also difficult LVMH stake in a separate trial. The final AMF will not affect the judicial process, but still a boost for Hermès.

The amount of the fine, 10 million euros ($ 13.05 million) is small change for a group with a market value of around € 70 billion, but the regulator's decision is a setback for public relations Arnault, who has over 60 luxury brands.

HERMES ATTRACTION

Arnault owns Louis Vuitton, the largest luxury brand in the world in terms of revenue, with a chain of wine and spirits makers, including the Hennessy cognac and Moet & Chandon.

He built the group into a world power in the space of 15 years, through the acquisition of brands such as Guerlain and Chateau d'Yquem. Own spectacular growth in the Hermes brand is worth more than 3 billion Euros annual turnover is wet his appetite.

The hearing revealed that largest luxury group in the world in 2007 and 2008, Lazard and Rothschild had hired bankers, the possibility of gaining control of Hermes and an alliance with some family members discuss shareholders.

Since the release of their participation Hermes LVMH has always denied seek control of Hermes and denied any wrongdoing in relation to disclosure and transparency.

Hermes is controlled by three families, Puech, Dumas and Guerrand representing more than 75 descendants of Emile Hermes, who founded the company in 1837 as a harness and saddlery.

They responded to LVMH interest accumulation by creating a portfolio that controls 51 percent of the company if the AMF investigation also revealed that the largest shareholder Nicolas Puech Hermes family had sold some of its shares in LVMH.

This raises the question as to the claim that public Hermès family was united in the fight against LVMH.

Earlier Friday, said the AMF, it would have to consider the attractiveness of LVMH for the judicial process to be invalidated, but it would not stop the process. The Disciplinary Committee of the AMF within a couple of weeks to meet the results of the controller and the proposed end.

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt and Pascale Denis, published by Christian Plumb and Patrick Graham)