Chanel Buys Stake in Independent Swiss Watchmaker MB&F

(Bloomberg) — Chanel Ltd. is buying a minority stake in Swiss watch brand MB&F in a deal that will give the independent watchmaker financial security while boosting the French fashion brand’s standing in the high horology industry.

The Max Büsser & Friends (MB&F) brand, known for unusual designs and innovative movements, will sell a 25% stake to Chanel, the Geneva-based company said in a statement Thursday.

The stake sale, coming after MB&F tripled revenue in three years, “will make sure that this company survives us,” founder and creative head Maximilian Büsser said in an interview.

Financial terms for the deal were not disclosed. In 2023, MB&F produced 419 wristwatches and had revenue of 45.4 million Swiss francs ($53.3 million).

 

The Chanel agreement promises to bring stability to the 19-year-old watchmaker amid an industry-wide downturn in demand for expensive timepieces after a pandemic-era boom. Büsser, 57, will retain a majority 60% stake in the business, down from 80%, while MB&F’s head of R&D and production Serge Kriknoff now owns a 15% stake. Both executives will remain with the company. 

The agreement gives closely held Chanel a right of first refusal on any future stake sales in the company, which has about 60 staff and expects to grow sales by about 5% this year, Büsser said. It will also head off the potential for unwanted takeover offers after his eventual departure.

“Somebody could come and say, ‘this is a big check,’ and if that somebody is a publicly owned group, which wants growth and profits and whatever, I don’t know who would take over,” Büsser said.

MB&F makes design-oriented timepieces that can resemble animals including frogs, panda bears and bulldogs as well as objects such as cars and spaceships. It also makes more traditionally shaped watches. The brand generates waitlists for buyers despite prices that can reach above $100,000 a piece.

 

 

Büsser said waitlists for some of the brand’s watches have shortened to as little as six months from a peak of nearly a decade during the pandemic-era boom as interest in independent brands including MB&F surged. 

For Chanel, the deal adds credibility to its watchmaking operations. The French fashion house makes about 75,000 of its own branded watches per year with sales of about 400 million Swiss francs, according to Morgan Stanley estimates. That makes it among Switzerland’s 25 biggest watchmakers.

Chanel has previously made minority investments in other independent Swiss brands, including Romain Gauthier in 2011 and F.P. Journe in 2018. It also owns stakes in some Swiss watch components suppliers, including a casemaker that MB&F will now have greater access to. 

The purchase of the MB&F stake is part of Chanel’s “long-term strategy to continue to preserve, develop and invest in specialist know-how and expertise,” Frédéric Grangié, Chanel’s president of watches and fine jewelry, said in a statement.

Büsser said the brand is planning a series of special releases to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025. The agreement with Chanel will preserve “the craziness and creativity” that MB&F has become known for, he said. 

 

(Updates with Büsser interview beginning in third paragraph.)

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