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DKSH and Bovet in strategic partnership

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August 2012


DKSH, the leading Market Expansion Services provider with a focus on Asia, is one of the top 30 companies in Switzerland and has doubled its sales since 2002 and quadrupled its pre-tax profits over the same period. Its expansion continues apace, notably with the acquisition of a majority stake in Maurice Lacroix last year and Europe’s second-biggest IPO of 2012 so far.

Now, DKSH announces a new strategic partnership in the watch industry, after signing a long-term collaboration agreement for enhancing the position of Bovet timepieces in Asia. DKSH will assume marketing, sales and after-sales services throughout Asia, while also taking a strategic shareholding in Bovet and both its manufacturing facilities (Dimier).

The deal sees DKSH take on the exclusive marketing and distribution rights for Bovet timepieces in the Asia region and acquire a strategic shareholding of 20 per cent in Bovet, which covers both the Bovet 1822 brand and its two production facilities under the name of Dimier.

“Today, the Asia Pacific region is the biggest market for Swiss luxury timepieces. We see DKSH, the leading independent provider for marketing, sales and distribution of premium luxury goods in Asia, as the ideal partner for professionally marketing our premium Bovet timepieces in the growing Asian markets,” says Pascal Raffy, owner of Bovet 1822 and Dimier 1738.

“We are highly enthusiastic about the growth potentials and synergies that will be generated by the strategic linking of our comprehensive marketing, sales and after-sales services network throughout Asia with the manufacturing competence of one of Switzerland’s most exclusive and prestigious watch brands,” says Gonpo Tsering, Member of Group Management and responsible for the Business Segment Luxury & Lifestyle at DKSH.

This strategic partnership will undoubtedly give a further boost to DKSH, which listed on the Swiss stock exchange in March this year. The holding generated 7.3 billion Swiss francs in sales in 2011, a figure that puts the company above the Swatch Group (7.1 billion) in the league table of Swiss companies. It also gives Bovet access to the DKSH distribution network across Asia, which includes 630 business locations as well as DKSH’s own watchmakers in the core markets of Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and China.