DKSH sells 25 percent stake in watchmaker Bovet

Zurich-based holding company DiethelmKellerSiberHegner (DKSH) has announced the sale of its 25 percent stake in Bovet Fleurier SA, a Swiss watchmaking brand.

DKSH noted in a press release that the transaction would not materially affect the group’s profit and loss statement.

The sale was made to Pascal Raffy, who owns 75 percent of Bovet’s share capital.

Raffy first purchased the majority share of the brand in 2001 for around five million dollars, with the goal of developing a vertical integration strategy according to Forbes.

He continued to up his hold on the company, later buying out his partners, purchasing a number of Bovet’s suppliers and acquiring a minority share in the company’s case manufacturers.

The publication reported that Raffy’s major investments totalled around 35 million dollars as he continued to strive towards building up a cult following for the brand, based on exclusivity and small production quantities.

Meanwhile, Bovet itself was first founded in England in 1822 by Edouard Bovet, initially operating during the height of the Silk Road trading period.