Swatch CEO says ‘nothing new’ in buyout talk lifting stock

Swatch Group AG Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek said that it’s “pure speculation” that the company is considering going private now, although it’s something that “would be nice to do.”

The CEO made those comments to Bloomberg after an interview he gave to a Swiss publication on the matter contributed to the biggest intraday jump in its shares on record. 

“I always said that taking the company private would be a nice thing to do and, at so ridiculous low share prices that we saw since quite some time, even more seducing,” Hayek said. “So the interview today says nothing new. Everything else is pure speculation.”

Swatch Group, whose watch brands include Omega, Blancpain and Breguet, rose as much as 16% Thursday after Hayek was quoted in the interview with Bilanz saying the company is “thinking about what we can do,” to go private and exit the Swiss stock exchange. The stock was halted twice due to volatility. 

Although Hayek has expressed that goal before, he has also long said he wasn’t willing to take on the debt needed to buy out existing shareholders. 

Hayek gave no indication to Bilanz or Bloomberg that the company, which is controlled by the Hayek family, was close to finding a way to fund a shareholder buyout. He told Bilanz that Swatch shareholders would need a 30% to 40% premium.

“Whether we are listed or not does not change our behavior, we operate in exactly the same way as if we were not listed,” Hayek told Bilanz.

“This means we don’t fit into the landscape of listed companies. People tell us we are stubborn. I say we are predictable in our unpredictability: anyone who buys a Swatch share knows how we operate,” he added. 

Hayek and other family members own about 25% of the company’s equity but control about 42% of voting rights. 

Swatch shares have lost about 24% this year after the company’s sales in China, which account for about a third of its revenue, fell sharply. 

For the past year, Swatch shares have been shunned alongside other languishing luxury names due to worries around the lagging rebound in demand from Chinese consumers. Thursday’s jump in shares was due to a combination of factors, including optimism over Chinese stimulus and potential short covering as well as speculation over a possible delisting.

Shares out on loan, an indication of short interest, represented 19% of Swatch’s free float as of Sept. 24, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, making it one of Europe’s most shorted stocks.