Corum and Eterna - Slightly New Ownership

Word made its way to the North Shore offices of Tempus Fugit yesterday that Corum - 

                                                                    

and Eterna -

    

will soon be under new (albeit fairly familiar) ownership.

As most of you know, each brand was purchased by Citichamp.  And I have gone on record several times and will do so again here - the reason why Eterna has struggled is not new. It was struggling long before Citychamp came in, and in fact Eterna would have been dead and buried if Citychamp hadn't placed their bet.

So what's the big news? Mr. Kwok Lung Hon who if my reading of things is correct is the majority shareholder in Citychamp. And as it happens, Mr. Hon decided to purchase the two brands and is now, in effect, the owner.  And in many ways this is big news. At about the same time that Tata decided to eschew its investment in Favre Leuba, Mr. Hon has sacked up and put his marker on the table.

This could mean a few things, but I am a HUGE Eterna fan, which is not entirely unlike being a Cleveland Indians (soon to be a different name) fan.  I come from a city called "Believeland", where sometimes you have to go on hope. And my hope is that maybe, just maybe this is going to mark a turning point.  Maybe Eterna can finally get the CEO they need and deserve.  Maybe Corum will continue to focus on what makes it special and hopefully begin to truly grow again. The pieces are there, and hopefully Mr. Hon's decision to take ahold of these two brands himself will lead to better things ahead.

Time will tell, but at a time where others are throwing in their hands, this Eterna fan is saying thank you, and welcome to Believeland!