Luxury goods billionaire Bernard Arnault sells Carrefour stake

Bernard Arnault, the French luxury goods billionaire, has divested his stake in Carrefour, just as the giant retail chain is yielding results.

Arnault first invested in Carrefour with US private equity firm Colony Capital LLC, according to Edge Markets, which saw France’s wealthiest person secure a seat on the board and pushed for the retailer’s expansion. Before the global financial crisis, Arnault stated that Carrefour was “clearly undervalued” and had “enormous potential.”

Despite his previous public support Arnault said in a statement on Wednesday: “After 14 years we have decided to pursue the reorientation of our investments.”

Carrefour shares fell as much as 5 percent on the announcement, which saw the LVMH CEO net 724 million euros from his 5.7 percent stake.

While Arnault has a canny eye for solid investments, not all acquisitions have made a return, including troubled fashion houses Donna Karan and Christian Lacroix, which despite the power-backing of LVMH could not be sufficiently revived.