Sotheby’s jewels (and everything else) sold to billionaire Patrick Drahi for 3.7 billion dollars ♦ ︎
Sotheby’s in French sauce. The news concerns only in part the jewels, but certainly it also involves the world of auctions of large and small precious stones, of rings, necklaces or stunning bracelets. In short, this time the auction house was itself the object of a relaunch. And he accepted the offer of the Franco-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi. To buy Sotheby’s, the entrepreneur will pay 3.7 billion dollars.
The offer was accepted by the management of Sotheby’s, which is currently a public company for 31 years (it does not, in short, have a definite owner, but many shareholders). Drahi, 55, buys Sotheby’s shares for $ 57 each, a price that represents a 61% premium compared to Friday’s stock exchange price for auction house stocks.
“After more than 30 years as a public company, it is the right time for Sotheby’s to return to private property to continue on a path of growth and success”,
Domenico De Sole, president of Sotheby’s
Drahi founded and chairs the European telecommunications company Altice (Virgin Mobile), and owns the French newspaper Liberation. Sotheby’s, based in New York, reported revenues of $ 1.04 billion in 2018 and profits of $ 108.6 million, a decrease compared to a year earlier. In any case, last year the auction house totaled sales of 6.35 billion dollars, compared to 5.49 billion dollars in 2017. Federico Graglia
