Billionaire H&M founding family speeds up share purchases

The billionaire Persson family is stepping up its stake in the H&M fashion group it founded. Recent regulatory filings point to an acceleration in share purchases, which could intensify speculation over a future take-private bid.

According to the Swedish financial regulator, the family’s Ramsbury Invest holding company, primarily owned by Sweden’s richest man, Stefan Persson, bought 42.75 million H&M shares in the first half of this year, with the most recent transaction on Monday.

That represents a faster pace than in 2024, when Ramsbury Invest purchased 56.85 million shares across the year. In 2023, the family had bought 55.65 million shares.

“As the family owns more shares, they have a higher dividend to reinvest, which would support increased share purchases,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Adam Cochrane, who expects the family to take H&M private by 2030.

According to the company’s website, the Persson family and its related companies owned more than 64% of H&M’s shares at the end of May.

H&M referred Reuters’ questions about the share purchases to a spokesperson for Ramsbury Invest, who declined to comment on the stake-building or on the possibility of the company being taken private. 

“I think they will, in due time, take it private — the question is, is it now, or in ten or 20 years?” said Peter Magnusson, portfolio manager at Cicero Fonder in Stockholm. Magnusson added that the family would likely need to find external financing or partners to buy the whole company.

H&M’s market value is around 187 billion Swedish crowns ($19.7 billion). Investment bankers expect more publicly listed retailers to go private due to tariff impacts and market volatility under U.S. President Donald Trump. H&M’s share price has been down 9% since the start of this year.

H&M was founded by Erling Persson in 1947. His son Stefan took over as CEO in 1982, staying in the role for 27 years before handing it over to Karl-Johan Persson in 2009.

In 2020, H&M got its first chief executive from outside the family, with Karl-Johan becoming chair.

($1 = 9.4806 Swedish crowns)