Horological Meandering

According to Bloomberg ( https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-29/swiss-watchmaker-breitling-said-to-be-considering-a-sale ) Breitling has kicked off the process of looking for suitors as a result of the current industry crisis. With sales at ar...  

Hard to say who will snap them up, though. To be honest, I didn't even realize they were still independent until I read the news about the possible sale. I guess I hadn't thought about the brand much as I've never really had a desire to own one of their w... 

Seems that Richemont is a group many Purists could imagine in the role of owner...

Gives Richemont a mass market brand at the lower level which I dont think they seem to have. It does make a better fit for LVMH imo but they already have TAG Heuer. AT

The lower level MB lines would be positioned below, while the IWC Pilot line would be spot on price wise? Still does not need to be a bad fit... The brands they have are adequately differentiated, so could work, if the overlap with IWC is managed

..but they don\'t make Breitling-style tool watches, and Breitling would complement them. But Breitling isn\'t quite as downmarket as B&M, at least not looking at their retail prices. --Rick

So even more competition The pilot segment would be covered by IWC in their portfolio.

third in a row to say that Richemont may very well be the right suitor to take the company over. Shall be followed with interest on my end.... Cheers, Filip

But many of their brands have prospered over time, so from that perspective...

Richemont has brands like IWC and Panerai for their Pilot & Diver market, so i don't see the fit of Breitling brand in their portfolio. The same is with LVMH. Swatch on the other hand....

May be hard to properly pursue both. LVMH could work in the sense that TAG does not do pilot watches and Zenith only does one line (OK, maybe two), which would not overlap that much. Swatch has very many brands already but I grant you that Breitling would... 

to buy Breitling for 1 EUR I asked which one Answer was all of them Cheers and let's see...my bet...non of mentioned

Maybe us Purists save up a bit and get ourselves an own brand? Comes with plenty of aircraft, too - how cool is that? Technically it could have been VW some years back but do not think it would fly nowadays... Red Bull?

Best wishes Alkiro

The question of course remains what will change with them... If it means economies of scale and these passed on to consumers to an extent, I'm all for it

But a huge fight could happen between main competitors as Breitling is a very well known brand all over the world and so their goodwill is important. Interesting to follow this new story. Best wishes Alkiro

And I hope a good suitor is found - would be a shame for the brand to disappear, or languish with little attention...

My Navitimer and I would be very sad. Best wishes Alkiro ...  

Best wishes Alkiro

They have just invested in new in-house movements and now they are in financial difficulties. Maybe the in-house movements came too late? Thank you for the news.

That in-house movements are one of the culprits of the current watch industry doldrums. They are generally expensive to develop and the brands then tried to recoup the investment through higher prices, bringing them ever closer to competitors that were in... 

I think Kering is the one that has the space for a brand like Breitling. Sporty and affordable, something which I think as a group they still lack. Will be a good complement to GP and UN, I feel.

Too early to say how successful they will be with the brands they have I guess but there is the least amount of overlap I guess. And they should understand luxury from non-watch related points of view, too.

The following history may have modern parallels and give clues to the modern "fit" of Breitling in any potential investor's portfolio: Leon Breitling was an assistant clerk in the Patents Office and "credited" with an early horologic patent..... (no comme... 

Could be Kering or Swatch from the 'establishment' but given your role at PuristSPro - Chopard? I have too little info on the company to know if it is feasible or desirable but it appears that their annual sales in 2014 amounted to about CHF800 million, s... 

(Normally well-informed) sources indicated that Kering paid 850 millions Swiss Franks for Ulysse Nardin two years ago. With the current crisis of the luxury watch market, expecially in Russia and Asia (two markets especially emphasized by UN), it my be do... 

Kering may be the best fit among existing watch portfolio holders, but I suspect that the most likely buyer would be a company flush with cash and currently operating outside either the luxury industry or outside of the luxury watch space. Rolex, Richemon... 

Given that new capital controls / FDI controls have just been instituted in China. So it could either be someone already in the watch business or Chinese investors could be out - again depending on the purchase price and the centrality of the acquisition ... 

Since I assume that the non-watch sectors of Kering's portfolio are not overperforming in those countries, either. Thanks for your update / thoughts!

I think it would be nicer to remain independent rather than having to fit into a group philosophy. Quite understand financially though if they feel the need to shore up the business. I know Breitling doesn’t get a lot of mentions on here maybe because a l... 

Not always the current models, as you say but the brand has a rich and storied history

Buying them. Both brands have somewhat similar take on sticking to one core segment and both have similarly large production numbers with similar marketing approaches. Rolex most likely also have the financial strength to buy them as well.

But they also work in the same price segment, if in slightly different niches. Interesting idea - thanks for sharing!

Kering might not afford them. Swatch might gobble them up but would the brand stay intact?

Swatch can definitely gobble them up - but with so many of their brands competing in that price range, the question is should they...

of brands with a dedicated market segment. Its so perfectly arranged that there is little overlap. Where would Breitling fit there? Best, Magnus

Just that they would have the muscle to do it. And I do not think that they have the pilot watch sector covered. Still, it would be a step too far IMHO.

NT

The B01 is fine but Swatch possesses in-house movements aplenty, not sure if there are areas in case construction or elsewhere, where Breitling has significant in-house capability that Swatch lacks...

Mideast or Chinese buyer?

Have too little knowledge of them to make an education guess in that direction

I guess we will see in a couple of months...

. . . natural pairing, no?

. . . he may well have friends with deep pockets. Art

May be quite some months before we have clarity on the final suitor...