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Bernard Arnault: Financial Times
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With a plan to pump more than $500 million into Internet ventures in Europe, Arnault is staking a large claim in a market that seems to be on the verge of taking off. ''In the U.S., the Internet developed in several stages--first the technical stage, then the portals, and then e-commerce,'' says Arnault. ''In Europe, this is all going to happen at the same time.'' If it turns out that way, European entrepreneurs will owe a debt of gratitude to Arnault. He has invested in about 30 startups, including the auction site icollector.com and the online retailer boo.com. He's ... backing U.S. startups such as E-Loan Inc. (EELN) to help them with their European expansions.
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Albert Frere's Nationale a Portefeuille (CNP) declined to comment on a report in the Financial Times that an investment fund set up with Groupe Arnault SA is eyeing Aston Martin. '(There is) no reaction,' said a spokesman. Aston Martin's owner, Ford Motor Co, has put it up for sale. Any bid would probably exceed €1 billion, the newspaper said.
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Europatweb is the Internet industrial arm of Paris-based Groupe Arnault. Established in mid-1999 with a capital injection of 500 million euros, Europatweb's mission is to gather together and develop Internet-related companies with strong growth potential. In the U.S., Europatweb has taken strategic stakes in entities such as Quios, Liquidation.com and MetaMarkets.com. The European team of Europatweb contributed to the creation of Liberty Surf, the free Internet access provider, set up the financial portal Zebank and took a majority stake in Aucland, one of the leading online auction sites in Europe. Europatweb is implementing its long-term strategic vision through majority or minority stakes in companies such as Flutter.com, ProXchange, WineandCo, Adonsale, Alafolie, Moonfruit, Linbox and NetValue.
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