LVMH Chief Bernard Arnault Buys Stake In Ailing Auctionata

Auctionata, the German based online auction site has been backed by Groupe Arnault, the controlling shareholder of French luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The company has committed to invest an undisclosed sum in the troubled auction site. The fashion group joins a number of other investors in this round of funding thought to be around $45 million. Auctionata has now raised $95.7 million since  its founding in 2012.  The company recently laid off around half of its staff in New York. This follows the redundancy of 100 positions in Auctionata’s Berlin headquarters in April, where 250 people had previously been employed.

Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, bought Phillips Auctioneers in 1999,  selling it a few years later after investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the business. Under his helm it failed to become a rival of Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Phillips is now a Russian owned company.

Auctionata brings all the services of a classic auction house exclusively to the internet. they use sophisticated, state-of-the-art technology to broadcast live auctions in HD quality to computers, tablets and mobile devices – ‘turning your living room into an auction room’. Auctionata is one of the first enterprise ever to enable classic and authentic auctions on the internet. 

They boast a global network of 250 experts in several fields, Auctionata provides free valuations for art, antiques, collectibles and luxury vintage items, with Auctionata’s Guarantee of authenticity. 

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