(May 29): HSG has emerged as the leading bidder for a stake in German high-end camera maker Leica Camera AG, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Asian investment firm is in talks to buy Blackstone Inc’s 45% stake in the business, the people said, declining to be identified discussing confidential information.
It could also purchase Austrian billionaire Andreas Kaufmann’s remaining 55% stake if he decides to sell, the people said. The firm may ultimately seek a listing for Leica, one of the people said.
Considerations are ongoing and any announcement may still be weeks away, the people said, cautioning there’s no guarantee of a deal.
Representatives for HSG and Blackstone declined to comment.
Leica could be valued at about €1 billion (US$1.2 billion or $1.5 billion), Bloomberg News reported in January. The camera maker was once publicly traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange until the Kaufmann family took it private in 2012.
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Leica, which revolutionised photography by making cameras more portable, traces its roots to about 150 years ago when Ernst Leitz started a company that focused on microscopes.
The first series version of the Leica I started production at the end of 1924 and was presented at the Spring Trade Fair a year later. The company was renamed Leica in 1986.
The deal adds to a string of investments by foreign buyers in marquee European brands. Last year, HSG bought premium sneaker maker Golden Goose as well as a majority stake in audio equipment maker Marshall Group AB. Singapore’s state-owned Temasek Holdings Pte doubled its stake in Italian fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna to 10%.
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More recently, a unit of Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s investment conglomerate in April acquired a majority stake in Richard Caring’s hospitality empire, which includes some of the UK’s most iconic brands, such as the Ivy chain of restaurants and private members’ club Annabel’s.
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