Richemont has announced that attempts by Bluebell Capital Partners to secure a presence in the luxury group’s boardroom have been unsuccessful, writes Leatherbiz.

Bluebell had said it wanted to use its shareholding in Richemont to have former Bulgari chief executive, Francesco Trapani, appointed to the board to represent the interests of holders of ‘A’ shares.

Swiss law makes a bid like this permissible and the move led to speculation that the investment firm wanted to gain a controlling influence in the running of Richemont and perhaps even change its name.

At the group’s annual general meeting in Geneva on September 7, a majority of shareholders went with the existing board’s recommendation to have an alternative candidate, Wendy Luhabe, as the representative of ‘A’ shares on the board.