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Christie's sold to French
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May 18, 1998: 12:49 p.m. ET
Artemis group acquires London-based auction house for $1.2 billion
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - French holding company Artemis SA agreed Monday to acquire Christie's International PLC for $1.2 billion, the two companies announced.
Artemis -- which is controlled by French businessman Francois Pinault -- will pay 396 pence per share in cash, valuing the deal at 721 million pounds. The transaction has been approved by both boards, the companies said in a joint statement.
The price tag represents a premium of 26.7 percent over Friday's closing price of 312-1/2 pence on the London Stock Exchange.
"In the board's opinion, this offer represents good value for Christie's shareholders," said Christie's Chief Executive Christopher Davidge.
A few months earlier, Christie's had received an offer from investment bank SBC Warburg Dillon Read valued at 500 million pounds ($828.7 million).
The sale marks the end of British control of the famed auction house, which has reigned during the last 230 years over the sale of such treasures as Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" to Princess Diana's evening dresses.
Founded in 1766 by Scot James Christie, the group survived a direct hit on its London headquarters by a German bomb in World War II and went on to open auction rooms in all the major markets in the world.
Artemis became Christie's largest shareholder earlier this month when Pinault, a friend of French President Jacques Chirac, bought 29 percent of the London-based company from British businessman Joseph Lewis.
Pinault, a 62-year-old billionaire from Brittany, controls Pinault-Printemps-Redoute SA as well as the Chateau Latour French wine label and upscale French weekly magazine Le Point and has stakes in luggage maker Samsonite Corp. and ski resort Vail Resorts Inc.
-- from staff and wire reports
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