At a glance
- What? On 2 November 2026, shareholders of Christian Dior, the listed holding company that controls LVMH, approved its conversion from a European company (SE) to a French société anonyme (SA).
- The vote: 99.99% in favour, with a quorum of 97.72%.
- Not the fashion house: Christian Dior Couture has belonged to LVMH since 3 July 2017, and the holding company has no employees.
- Why: a European company cannot convert directly into a partnership limited by shares, the form sought by the Arnault family group.
- What next: shareholder meetings in December 2026, a merger with Agache, then a buyout offer in the first quarter of 2027, subject to the AMF.
It is not the avenue Montaigne fashion house that is changing status, but the listed company that sits above LVMH. The 2 November vote changes almost nothing in itself, but it clears the way for a reorganisation of the Arnault family’s control of LVMH. If the plan goes through, the Christian Dior name will leave the Paris stock market in favour of Agache.
A holding with no staff, not a fashion house
Two companies bear the couturier’s name. The first, Christian Dior, is listed on Euronext Paris. Its board describes it as the parent company of LVMH and states that it has no employees. According to a declaration published by the AMF, it held 42.21% of LVMH’s capital and 56.21% of its voting rights on 19 February 2026.
The second, Christian Dior Couture, is the house behind Jonathan Anderson’s designs. Announced in April 2017, its sale to LVMH at an enterprise value of 6.5 billion euros was completed on 3 July 2017. Neither the board’s report nor the November resolutions mention it.
99.99% of votes for the société anonyme
Meeting at the Carrousel du Louvre, shareholders adopted all seven resolutions. The breakdown published on 3 November shows, for the conversion, 351,404,349 votes in favour, 21,972 against and 1,785 abstentions. The outcome was hardly in doubt: Financière Agache, part of the Arnault family group, holds 96.00% of Christian Dior’s capital and 97.10% of its voting rights.
What the vote leaves untouched
The board describes the move as bringing the articles of association into line, with no dissolution and no new legal entity. The name Christian Dior stays for now, followed by the letters SA. The share capital of 361,015,032 euros, the number of shares, the voting rights, the eight-member board and the statutory auditors all remain in place.
Why go through a société anonyme?
The société anonyme is only a stage. The law does not allow a European company to convert directly into a partnership limited by shares, and that partnership is what the Arnault family group is aiming for. In this structure a manager and general partners run the company, while shareholders provide the capital. The family adopted it for Agache in 2022 and wants to keep it to secure the long-term continuity of its control of LVMH, according to the 23 September statement. At Hermès, Émile Hermès SAS has been the general partner of Hermès International since 27 December 1990.
49.76% of LVMH brought together in Agache SCA
The plan announced on 23 September shortens the chain of control. Financière Agache would be absorbed by Agache, itself absorbed by Christian Dior, which would at the same moment become a partnership limited by shares and be renamed Agache. Agache SCA would directly hold 49.76% of LVMH’s capital and 65.55% of its voting rights, a stake included in the Arnault family group’s total of 50.33% of the capital and 66.27% of the voting rights.
Agache Commandité and Bernard Arnault would be the general partners, with Bernard Arnault as manager. Their financial rights would be capped at three million euros a year. On 7 October, Tony Estanguet and Xavier Musca were co-opted as independent directors of Christian Dior in connection with this plan.
€469.05 a share, a price still only illustrative
The partnership would oblige the family group to file a public buyout offer, in cash, for the 2.44% of the capital it does not hold, worth about 1.63 billion euros at the 22 September 2026 share price. There would be no squeeze-out: minority shareholders could sell or stay invested in Agache SCA. The target price is 95% of revalued net asset value. By way of illustration, that gave 469.05 euros on 23 September, 27.3% above the previous day’s close. The actual price would be set five business days before the December meeting.
Two meetings in December, then the AMF
Nothing is settled yet. The merger and the partnership must be approved by extraordinary general meetings of Christian Dior and Agache in December 2026. All of it remains subject to waivers from the Autorité des marchés financiers, the French market regulator. An information document on governance is due one month before the meeting, and the offer would open in the first quarter of 2027. For context, see the luxury market in the third quarter of 2026 and the end of LVMH’s decade of records.
| Company | Christian Dior, listed holding company, parent of LVMH |
| Meeting | 2 November 2026, Carrousel du Louvre |
| Vote | 99.99% in favour, quorum of 97.72% |
| Target form | partnership limited by shares, renamed Agache |
| Planned manager | Bernard Arnault |
| Stake in LVMH | 49.76% of capital, 65.55% of voting rights |
| Buyout offer | 2.44% of capital, in cash |
| Price | €469.05 for illustration, final price not set |
Information verified on 4 November 2026. Sources: Christian Dior general meeting documents, Christian Dior statement of 23 September 2026, Autorité des marchés financiers.
