Belstaff owner JAB tipped for Burberry bid

Rumours rife around potential Burberry takeover

One of Burberry's new flagship stores in Shanghai, China (Getty)

Rumours were rife in the City about the identity of the mystery investor potentially preparing a takeover bid for luxury goods giant Burberry.

Gossips suggested JAB Holding, the investment vehicle of the billionaire Reimann family from Germany, was the interested party.

The Reimanns are famously private, which might also explain why even Burberry has been unable to uncover the identity of the investor, which through HSBC had built its stake last month to 5 per cent – although a regulatory filing from HSBC on Monday revealed that the client had dropped its stake below 3 per cent. Some sceptical traders also noted that JAB does not have a reputation for hostile raids.

JAB is the largest shareholder in Reckitt Benckiser, the consumer goods giant, with a 9 per cent stake worth £4bn.

Its luxury arm controls shoe maker Jimmy Choo, motorcycle jacket firm Belstaff, and Swiss luxury clothing brand Bally.

JAB also has a stake in US perfume business Coty and splashed out $13.9bn (£9.8bn) earlier this month for American coffee brewer Keurig Green Mountain.

Burberry and JAB declined to comment.

The luxury brand surged 91p or 6.6 per cent to 1,462p as investors mulled a potential takeover offer worth much more than the blue chip’s current £6bn market value.

It was the top performer on the FTSE 100, which fell 56.96 points to 6,125.44 as miners beat a hasty retreat with commodities prices slamming into reverse after Monday’s huge surges.

More dismal Chinese trade data was to blame for early falls, but Glencore’s slump – down 31p at 139.75p – was exacerbated by the news of a wall collapsing at its copper mine in Congo, killing two and leaving another five missing.

CLS Holdings was 60p firmer at 1,621p as the FTSE 250 property investor’s solid annual results helped dispel concerns about a property bubble in London.

On AIM, Victoria Carpets improved 50p to 1,330p as it confirmed early talks to buy Belgian rival Lano, while podcast site AudioBoom slipped 0.38p to 3.13p as annual pre-tax losses widened to £7.4m.