Luxury watchmaker Hublot buys Korean ceramic supplier Ecco

The LVMH unit has acquired a 70% stake for $23 million with an option to buy the remaining 30% down the road

Hublot boutique store on Bond Street in London (Courtesy of Getty Images)
Hublot boutique store on Bond Street in London (Courtesy of Getty Images)
Jun-Ho Cha 1
2023-03-27 18:00:38 chacha@hankyung.com
Mergers & Acquisitions

Hublot, a Swiss watchmaker under global luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has taken over South Korean ceramic manufacturer Ecco Watch Co.  

The Swiss company has signed an agreement to buy a 70% stake for 30 billion won ($23.1 million) from Ecco CEO Ko Young-gon and shareholders with whom he has a special relation, according to investment banking sources on March 27. Hublot has also acquired an option to purchase the other 30% stake in the future.

Ecco’s CEO Ko will remain in management for a certain period of time after the buyout, sources added.

Ecco started providing key components like ceramic, a harder material than steel and gold for watches, to Hublot and Swatch in 2008. Ecco also signed a 10-year contract at $50 million to jointly develop ceramics with Hublot in 2014, when former President Park Geun-hye visited Switzerland.

Ecco’s ceramics have attracted the attention of global luxury watchmakers thanks to their hardness and color. Ceramic manufacturing requires precise manual dexterity to heat a material called zirconia in a furnace at a temperature of at least 1,450 degrees Celsius.

Headquartered in Seoul, Ecco operates three factories in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province in Korea. The company had run a plant in Shenzhen, China and relocated its production facilities home in 2013 as it determined that made-in-Korea watches would build better trust with global watch producers.

Write to Jun-Ho Cha at chacha@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.
#Hublot LVMH #Korean watchmaker #ceramic on watch #Ecco Korea watches #Korea M&As #Hublot Ecco watches #Korean watch ODM #Korean ceramic maker #Hublot M&As

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