O comunicado:
MB&F is thrilled to announce a partnership with Chanel, who has taken a 25% stake in the independent high-end watchmaking brand. Founder Maximilian Büsser retains the majority of MB&F with 60%, while his partner in the company, Serge Kriknoff (Head of R&D & Production), owns 15%. Max and Serge will continue to lead MB&F together with Charris Yadigaroglou (Head of Marketing Communications) and Thibault Verdonckt (Head of Sales).
Chanel’s minority stake ensures stability and resilience with a strong strategic shareholder, sharing the same values and guaranteeing that MB&F’s long-term strategy will be maintained.
Maximilian Büsser comments: “It was our responsibility, in today’s very favourable context and with our management team in its prime, to take this major step to ensure our long-term future – a natural evolution for a company celebrating its 20th anniversary next year. In addition to allowing us to pursue our independent path, free of any pressure on growth, the investment by Chanel will strengthen our operations by providing access when needed to their wider ecosystem and network of specialized suppliers”.
The strategic investment demonstrates Chanel’s desire to continue to evolve and invest in the future of high-end watchmaking expertise, creation and design. It follows a long-term strategy to partner with luxury specialists to preserve and develop expert ‘savoir-faire’. Chanel launched its own watchmaking in 1987, setting up a watch design studio on Place Vendôme in Paris and investing in G&F Châtelain Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, acquired by the group in 1993. The investment in MB&F follows similar investments in high-end watchmakers Romain Gauthier (2011) and F.P. Journe (2018), which have remained independently run.
Frédéric Grangié, President of Chanel Watches & Fine Jewellery, highlights: “We are delighted to sign a strategic partnership with MB&F who share the same values of independence, creativity and excellence. The announcement is part of our long-term strategy to continue to preserve, develop and invest in specialist know-how and expertise, reaffirming our position in high-end watchmaking”.
About MB&F
Founded in 2005 by Maximilian Büsser, MB&F – short for Maximilian Büsser & Friends – was the world’s first-ever horological concept laboratory. As an artistic and micro-engineering creative lab, it is dedicated to designing and crafting small series of radical concept watches by bringing together talented horological professionals. With over 20 calibres forming the base of the award-winning Horological and Legacy Machines, MB&F continues to follow Founder and Creative Director Maximilian Büsser’s vision of creating 3-D kinetic art by deconstructing traditional watchmaking.
MB&F is an independent company with revenues of CHF 45,4M in 2023. The company crafted 419 MB&F wristwatches in 2023; in 2021 it released a parallel more accessible brand, M.A.D.Editions, which currently manufactures approximately 3’500 pieces per year.
MB&F has won to date 9 awards from the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, including the ultimate prize: the “Aiguille d’Or”, which rewards the best watch of the year.
About Chanel
Chanel is a private company and a world leader in creating, developing, manufacturing and distributing luxury products. Founded by Gabrielle Chanel at the beginning of the last century, Chanel offers a broad range of high-end creations, including Ready-to-Wear, Leather Goods, Fashion Accessories, Eyewear, Fragrances, Makeup, Skincare, Jewellery and Watches. Chanel is also renowned for its Haute Couture collections, presented twice yearly in Paris, and for having acquired a large number of specialized suppliers, collectively known as the Métiers d’Art. Chanel is dedicated to ultimate luxury and to the highest level of craftsmanship. It is a brand whose core values remain historically grounded on exceptional creation. As such, Chanel promotes culture, art, creativity and “savoir-faire” throughout the world, and invests significantly in people, R&D, sustainable development and innovation. At the end of 2023 Chanel employed more than 36,500 people worldwide.
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