Taittinger family return to Champagne January 2, 2007
Oliver Styles
The Taittinger family is set to return to its Champagne business nearly two years after being bought out by an American investment firm.
The family, headed by 53 year-old Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, has bought a 37% stake from French bank Crédit Agricole, whose overall share in the firm drops to 20%.
Taittinger said he was still looking for 'friendly capital' to invest in the remaining 43% and was confident he would find enough interest.
'Companies with a heritage are very reassuring for investors,' he told French news channel LCI.
Crédit Agricole bought the Champagne house from Starwood Capital, an American investment group specialising in luxury hotels, in 2006 for 660m (£440m). This followed Starwood's 2.6bn (£1.75bn) acquisition of the Taittinger Group, including its luxury hotel, perfume and crystal divisions, in July of that year.
The Taittinger family received 428m (£288m) from the original takeover money now being re-invested in the marque.
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