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Waterford Wedgwood chairman and CEO takes Royal Doulton stake

Irish billionaire Tony O“Reilly has added Royal Doulton to his luxury goods investments by arranging for Waterford Wedgwood to take a 14.99% stake in the troubled British chinamaker.
It is understoo…

Irish billionaire Tony O“Reilly has added Royal Doulton to his luxury goods investments by arranging for Waterford Wedgwood to take a 14.99% stake in the troubled British chinamaker. It is understood that O“Reilly, whose family control about 30% of Waterford Wedgwood, persuaded Mercury Asset Management, Fidelity and Prudential to sell down their Doulton stakes. According to a recent report, O“Reilly“s intention is twofold: to dissuade his rivals from bidding for Royal Doulton, and to find ways of joining its factories with those of his Waterford crystal and Wedgwood china. Richard Barnes, finance director of Waterford Wedgwood, said: “This is a deal that O“Reilly took an active and personal involvement in. It“s all part of our plan to build a luxury portfiolio of brands. We thought the shares are cheap at these levels – and it also dissuades anyone else from bidding. If people call that a defensive move, so be it.” Shares of Royal Doulton fell sharply in early November, after the company admitted it had lost orders worth UK 12 million because of computer problems. Hamish Grossart, the merchant banker now running Royal Doulton, was not informed about O“Reilly“s interest until the deal was almost complete. Since O“Reilly took control of Waterford Wedgwood, the company has taken an 85% stake in Rosenthal and allied itself with various designers, the report said.

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