Gucci also announced that Mr Domenico De Sole, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gucci Group, and Mr Tom Ford, Creative Director of Gucci Group, similarly intend to join the action against LVMH for defamation.
Gucci Group N.V. today released additional information that offers conclusive proof that the statements made by LVMH regarding the granting of share options to senior management are false and were intended to mislead Gucci’s shareholders.
Commenting on the situation, Adrian Bellamy the non-executive Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Gucci Group N.V., and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee said:
“We have today decided to release details of both the timing and the size of the option packages granted to Mr De Sole and Mr Ford.
This information quite clearly demonstrates that LVMH has intentionally spread untruths in an attempt to impugn the integrity of two of our key executives and to damage a formidable competitor.
First, I stress that – contrary to LVMH’s assertions – Mr De Sole’s and Mr Ford’s renewed employment contracts were negotiated well after the Company entered into the Strategic Investment Agreement with Pinault-Printemps-Redoute.
Second, as a member of Gucci’s Remuneration Committee, I wish to assure shareholders that the option packages provided for Messrs De Sole and Ford were designed to align their interests with the interests of our shareholders.
Moreover, the packages were set with the guidance of a leading independent compensation expert and unanimously approved by the Board which has a majority of independent members. Both executives have performed extremely well in the past and, as part of new employment contracts with extended terms and renewed commitments to the Company, we offered them a package of options that incentivized them for the future. The strike price of the options is above the market price in June 1999 and a significant amount of these options remains above the current share price.
Finally, there should be no misunderstanding as to the fundamental point: there has never been any agreement (oral or written) between PPR and Gucci or its key executives that linked the future compensation of our key executives to the March 19, 1999 Gucci/PPR Strategic Investment Agreement.”
