LVMH's Bernard Arnault restructures holding for 'long-term family control'

PARIS (Reuters) - French billionaire and LVMH chief Bernard Arnault has changed the legal structure of his family holding company Agache to a joint-stock partnership to ensure family control over LVMH in the long term, the company said on Thursday.

The change does not affect its current shareholding, Arnault said in a statement.

Under the new legal set-up, the family holding company will be controlled by Agache Commandite SAS, which will be held equally by Arnault's five children.

A filing with the French market authority showed that the Arnault family, through various legal entities, owns 47.99% of LVMH and has 63.5% of voting rights in the luxury group.

Arnault, 73, is CEO and chairman of LVMH and has not publicly named a successor for the sprawling luxury empire he built through acquisitions.

LVMH bylaws were changed at the annual shareholder meeting in April to raise the maximum age of its chief executive officer to 80 from 75.

All five children hold senior management positions at labels in the group.

The eldest, Delphine Arnault,47, and Antoine Arnault, 45, children from his first marriage, are also both on the group's board of directors.

Alexandre Arnault, 30, is an executive at Tiffany & Co. while Frederic Arnault, 27, is chief executive officer of TAG Heuer.

The youngest, Jean Arnault, 23, joined the group a year ago, directing marketing and development for Louis Vuitton's watches division.

(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; Editing by Sandra Maler)