Môlnlycke

"He enters negotiations with the government Neither Madelin nor Séguin, and even less Balladur, are willing to block the agreement with Môlnlycke. They simply want guarantees on how Arnault will use his loot. Everyone has their own ideas on this. Séguin, elected in the Vosges, wants him to devote part of the 2 billion to modernizing the Boussac factories in his region. Balladur, for his part, wants him to place under sequestration the 338 million francs that the European Union is claiming from France. The Ministry of Finance also demands a guarantee on the 270 million francs of participatory loans that he had received in early 1985. By the way, Arnault is reminded of his promise to give the State a "return to better fortune" clause of up to 300 million francs starting in 1991. Madelin seeks assurances about the future of Boussac's textile industry, which still employs 5,300 people. It is on the eve of the presidential election and it is better to guard against a possible social drama."

"he sold Peaudouce to Môlnlycke, a subsidiary of the huge paper conglomerate Svenska Cellulosa, for an astronomical price: nearly 2 billion francs (300 million euros). Bernard Arnault summarized this deal succinctly in his book: "We went to Sweden with one of my collaborators to sign the transaction. The night following the official signature, the hotel where we were staying caught fire. We were able to rush down to the hotel lobby in our pajamas with all our files!" The negotiation was remarkable, however. The deal had been on the market for over a year. In October 1986, the English company Smith & Nephew offered 800 million francs. Then, in January 1987, Môlnlycke outbid them with an offer of 1.5 billion francs. Not bad for a company still listed in the books for 300 million! Advised by his collaborator Christophe Mujagic, Arnault asked for 2.5 billion. The Swedes did not want to go beyond 1.7 billion. Finally, they agreed to just under 2 billion. Was it the tenacity of the businessman? Probably. Arnault was able to sell at the top of the stock market cycle. In addition, two years earlier, against the advice of his collaborators, he had decided to increase the prices of diapers to show a flattering financial result. The gamble was risky because if the major competitor Pampers (Procter & Gamble group) had not followed suit, Peaudouce could suddenly have been out of the market."

"Moreover, thanks to his increasingly effective intelligence networks, Bernard Arnault had learned that the CEO of Môlnlycke, after a lackluster career, wanted to make a big deal before retiring."