Hautlence - Change of shareholders
Revue FH - 18 October 2012
On 25 September this year, Guillaume Tetu (on the left in our photo next page), CEO of Hautlence, announced the acquisition of all of the brand's shares by MELB Holding, a family business of which Georges-Henri Meylan (centre) is a board member. Last March, MELB Holding bought out the La Chaux-de-Fonds firm, debts included, for the symbolic sum of one franc.
MELB Holding focuses on investments in the luxury and medtech industries. In the former activity its aim is to create synergies around development platforms, in terms of both distribution and brand management, for and with a number of independent operators. Georges- Henri Meylan, passionate as ever about watchmaking, will place his experience as the former CEO of Audemars Piguet at the service of Hautlence. Bill Muirhead (right), CEO of MELB Holding, will add his strategic, administrative and financial expertise. Bruno Moutarlier, also employed by MELB Holding, will concentrate on product and industrialisation aspects. Guillaume Tetu, for his part, remains CEO of the brand. MELB Holding intends to reposition Hautlence in order to develop and open up new markets.
Established in 2004, Hautlence - whose name is an anagram of Neuchâtel - has developed a range of products acclaimed and appreciated by connoisseurs. All its timepieces bear the «Horlogerie Suisse » hallmark, which guarantees that research and development, design, assembly and quality control are carried out in-house. 90% of components originate in the canton of Neuchâtel. The brand sells around 100 timepieces a year and hopes to increase this number to 250 next year. Present on approximately thirty markets with forty points of sale, it currently employs around ten people, including two in Hong Kong.