Moscow based Mercury Group has bought a majority stake in Phillips de Pury & Co.

In 1999 Phillips was acquired by Bernard Arnault, chairman of Louis Vuitton Möet Hennessey, who appointed the art dealers Simon de Pury and Daniella Luxembourg to run it. Mr. de Pury later took majority control and moved its main offices to Manhattan.

In the deal with the Mercury Group, Mr. de Pury will retain his position and stake in the company, it said in a statement on Monday.

Phillips said in the statement that its contemporary art sales rose 80 per cent in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007.

Mercury Group is Russia’s largest luxury retail company whose holdings include The Tretyakov Projezd, the Barvikha Luxury Village and TSUM department store, high-end retail properties in the Moscow area that house fashion and jewelry brands such as Gucci, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Rolex and Graff as well as showrooms for Ferrari, Maserati and Bentley.

Posted: 10|7|08 at 9:40 am. Filed under: Europe.